UBRAKY 


LIFE 


CAPTAIN  NATHAN  HALE 


of  tire  American 


BY    I.    W.    STUART. 


s,  luljile  fonlj  Virtue  fotsljrti  in  b»in  to  aafae, 
SJale,  brigf;t  ant)  gcneroua,  founto  a  ftaplcsa  grabt; 
IZEUU)  iStntua'  Itfatng  flame  f)i3  bosom  gloiue'D, 
antj  Science  lurctj  Ijtm  to  fjtr  afiacet  abolie  ; 
£n  iiHortlj'a  fair  pati)  Jjia  f«t  aTibtnturtlj  far, 
Sje  pritie  of  locate,  tfje  riaing  fjope  of  tLJUar; 
5n  tiutj)  firm,  in  Hanger  calm  as  efatn— 
Co  frinVos  uncljanging,  antj  sincere  to  ^eafaen. 
SJatu  aijort  fjia  course,  ttje  prije  fjofa  earlg  toon, 
Olljilc  bjecpiiig  Jfrienlisfjip  mouina  Ijer  faborite  gone." 

I'RKS.  DWIOHT. 

WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS. 

SECOND     EDITION,    ENLARGED    AND    IMPROVED. 

HARTFORD: 
PUBLISHED    BY    F.    A.    BROWN. 

NEW   YORK,   D.   APPLETON   &   CO:   D.  BURGESS   &   CO. 
BOSTON,    SAN  BORN,    CARTER    &.    BAZIN. 

1856. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855,  by 

F.  A.  BROWN, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut. 


STEREOTYPED   BY 

RICHARD     H.     HO  BBS, 

HARTFORD,   CONN. 


DEDICATED 

TO 

COLONEL  CHARLES  J.  BUSS 

IN    MARK    OF    REGARD 

FOR 

HIS  VALUABLE  ENCOURAGEMENT  OF  THE  WORK 
AND    IN    TOKEN 

or 
PEKSONAL  FKIENDSHIP. 


PREFACE. 

"  I  DO  think  it  hard,"  wrote  Stephen  Hempstead,  the  friend  and 
companion  of  the  subject  of  the  following  Memoir,  "  that  HALE, 
who  was  equally  brave,  young,  accomplished,  learned  and  honor- 
able— should  be  forgotten  on  the  very  threshold  of  his  fame,  even 
by  his  countrymen ;  that  while  our  own  historians  have  done 
honor  to  the  memory  of  Andre,  Hale  should  be  unknown ;  that 
while  the  remains  of  the  former  have  been  honored  even  by  our 
own  countrymen,  those  of  the  latter  should  rest  among  the  clods 
of  the  valley,  undistinguished,  unsought,  and  unknown." 

Most  fully  do  we  accord  in  sentiment  with  the  patriotic  remon- 
strant just  quoted.  It  is  indeed  'hard,'  that  a  spirit  exalted  as 
was  that  of  Captain  Nathan  Hale — that  a  life  and  conduct  like  his 
own,  so  pure,  so  heroic,  so  disinterested,  and  so  crowned  by  an 
act  of  martyrdom  one  of  the  most  galling  and  valiant  on  record — 
should  not  have  been  fitly  commemorated,  hitherto,  either  by  the 
pen  of  history  or  of  biography.  His  '  remains ' — the  dust  and 
ashes  of  his  body — of  these  no  one  can  tell  the  place  of  inter- 
ment. For  aught  that  any  exploration  can  reveal,  they  may  be 
now 

"imprisoned  in  the  viewless  winds, 
And  blown  with  restless  violence  about 
The  pendent  world — " 


11  PREFACE. 

though,  it  is  certain,  they  were  first  deposited  somewhere  within 
the  circuit  of  the  Empire-City  of  the  Union — and  thousands  of 
gay-hearted  mortals,  at  the  present  moment,  daily  and  hourly 
walk  probably  over  the  spot,  '  not  knowing  where  they  tread ' — 
and  none  can  ever  know  until  the  Grave  gives  up  its  dead. 

But  this  fact  by  no  means  excuses  the  silence  of  history  about 
the  youthful  hero.  Marshall,  Ramsay,  Gordon,  Butler,  Botta — 
not  one  word  have  they  to  say  concerning  him.  Bancroft  has  not 
yet  reached  him.  Hannah  Adams  just  mentions  him.  Popular 
school  histories  merely  allude  to  his  fate.  A  brief  sketch  of  him 
by  the  late  J.  S.  Babcock,  an  author  of  Hale's  native  town,  which 
is  beauteous  for  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  written,  but  is  compara- 
tively barren  of  facts — meagre  notices  of  him  in  Allen's  Biogra- 
phical Dictionary,  in  Pease  and  Niles'  Gazeteer,  and  in  Holmes' 
Annals — an  Address  before  the  Hale  Monument  Association  by 
the  late  Hon.  A.  T.  Judson,  which  embodies  touching  comment 
on  Hale's  character,  and  the  closing  acts  of  his  career,  but  which 
does  not  assume  to  give  the  details  of  his  life — short,  but  valuable 
references  to  him  by  H.  Onderdonk  Jr.,  and  B.  J.  Lossing 
Esquire,  in  their  respective  works — these,  and  a  succinct  tale 
which  appeared  in  the  New  York  Sunday  Times  several  years 
ago,  together  with  a  few  paragraphs  in  Sparks'  Life  of  Andre,  and 
a  few  more  in  Thompson's  History  of  Long  Island — constitute,  so 
far  as  we  can  ascertain,  all  that  has  been  done  in  the  way  of 
biographical  contribution  to  his  memory.  And  as  for  notices  of 
him,  of  any  importance,  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic — such  of 
course  we  should  hardly  expect — nor  are  there  any,  we  think  it 
may  be  safely  affirmed. 


PKEFACE.  Hi 

In  this  dearth  of  memoir  with  regard  to  Hale — feeling  that  his 
Hfe  signally  deserved  an  effort  for  its  exhibition — wo  began  to  look 
for  materials  for  the  purpose.  We  consulted  documents  of  every 
kind,  within  our  reach,  that  might  by  possibility  contain  them — 
and  jotted  down,  one  after  another,  each  item  that  we  thought 
relevant  and  true.  Fortunately  we  procured  Hale's  own  Camp- 
Book — in  which,  for  some  time,  he  kept  a  diary.  We  succeeded 
in  obtaining  some  of  his  correspondence — a  few  letters  from  his 
own  pen,  and  quite  a  number  addressed  to  him  by  others.  We 
garnered  the  statements  concerning  him  made  by  his  own  faithful 
attendant  in  camp,  Asher  Wright — and  those  also  of  Stephen 
Hempstead,  that  confidential  soldier  in  his  company  to  whom  we 
have  already  referred,  and  who  was  Hale's  companion,  for  a  por- 
tion of  the  time,  on  his  last  fatal  expedition.  We  consulted  also 
many  aged  persons,  in  different  places — several  who  were  person- 
ally acquainted  with  Hale — and  among  these  last,  particularly,  the 
lady  to  whom  Hale  was  betrothed,  and  the  venerable  Colonel 
SAMUEL  GREEN,  who,  at  New  London,  was  a  pupil  of  Hale's,  and 
remembered  him,  and  many  interesting  facts  concerning  him,  per- 
fectly. We  made  many  inquiries  of  Hale's  relatives,  near  and 
remote,  and  among  these,  particularly,  of  two  of  his  grand- 
nephews,  CHAUNCEY  HOWARD  Esquire  of  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
and  Rev.  EowARd  E.  HALE  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  to  each 
of  whom  we  are  indebted  for  much  and  valuable  information.  J. 
W.  BOYNTON  Esquire,  also  of  Coventry,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Hale  Monument  Association — Hon.  HENRY  C.  DEMING,  and 

GEORGE  BRINLEY  Jr.,  Esquire,  of  Hartford — Hon.  H.  E.  PECK, 
1 


IV  PREFACE. 

of  New  Haven — the  Rev.  Dr.  SPRAGUE,  of  Albany,  New  York — 
Hon.  JAMES  W.  BEEKMAN,  of  New  York  City — the  late  venerable 
Gen.  JEREMIAH  JOHNSON,  of  Brooklyn,  Long  Island — and  especially 
HENRY  ONDERDONK,  Jr.,  Esquire,  of  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  author 
of  the  "  Revolutionary  Sketches  of  Queens  County  "  —most  politely 
added  to  our  stores. 

We  procured  also  affidavits  or  well-authenticated  statements, 
from  various  persons  upon  Long  Island,  who  were  cotemporaries 
of  Hale,  and  conversant  with  his  fate — as  from  Robert  Townsend, 
a  farmer  of  Oyster  Bay,  who  heard  the  details  of  his  capture  from 
the  British  officer  who  seized  him,  Captain  Quarme — from  Solo- 
mon Wooden,  a  shipbuilder,  in  1776,  near  the  place  of  Hale's  cap- 
ture, and  familiar  with  its  incidents — from  the  families  of  Jesse 
Fleet  and  Samuel  Johnson,  who  lived  at  Huntington,  East  Neck, 
upon  the  very  spot  where  he  was  made  a  prisoner — and  particularly 
from  Andrew  liegeman,  and  Tunis  Bogart,  honest  farmers,  who 
during  the  Revolution  were  impressed  from  Long  Island  as  wagon- 
ers in  the  British  service,  and  who  themselves  saw  Hale  executed. 
We  had  besides  in  our  possession  the  report  made  to  General  Hull 
by  an  officer  of  the  British  Commissariat  Department,  who  afeo 
saw  Hale  hung,  and  was  "  deeply  moved  by  the  conduct  and  fate 
of  the  unfortunate  victim." 

Thus  furnished  with  materials — and  more  -abundantly  than  at 
first  we  expected — we  began  to  prepare  the  present  volume.  Yet 
at  best — considering  how  much  really  there  must  have  been  in 
the  life  and  character  of  Hale,  attractive  to  a  laudable  curiosity, 
that  like  the  dust  into  which  his  manly  frame  has  been  dissipated, 


PREFACE.  V 

must  lie  hidden  forever  from  our  knowledge — we  were  but  poorly 
equipped.  Many  things,  to  be  written  down,  it  is  true,  were  plain — 
were  easy  of  arrangement,  and  caused  no  embarrassment  to  our 
pen.  But  other  things  again,  worthy  of  record,  were  wrapt  in 
gloom.  There  were  points,  hitherto  in  dispute,  to  be  settled. 
There  were  points,  unknown  when  we  commenced  our  labor,  to 
be  developed  in  the  progress,  and  by  the  process  of  examination. 
Side  by  side  then,  or  stretched  out  in  links  seemingly  incapable  of 
connection,  we  placed  our  various  materials — many  of  them  scraps 
merely  of  information,  atomic,  insulated,  and  wholly  unpromising 
of  results.  Comparison  and  contrast  gradually  shed  light  upon 
them.  They  grew  related.  They  knit  together.  Little  family 
groups  of  affiliated  facts  and  conclusions  started  up  from  their 
midst,  and  ever  and  anon,  as  new  and  pleasant  merchandise, 
aided  to  load  up  the  train  of  our  biography. 

So  we  proceeded,  on  to  our  journey's  end — slowly — but  surely, 
we  would  fain  believe — with  all  the  certainty  that  could  attend  our 
steps,  and  where  it  did  not,  certain  of  our  uncertainty.  We  have 
at  last,  consequently,  cut  a  road  for  all  who  wish  to  travel  over  the 
life  of  Hale — not  a  long  one  to  those  who  may  pursue  it — nor 
tedious,  we  fain  would  trust.  We  have  not,  it  will  be  observed, 
set  up  thickly  along  in  its  course  the  posts  of  authorities,  but  con- 
tent ourselves  with  erecting  one  large  and  general  one  at  our  point 
of  departure — here  in  this  Preface — in  the  paragraphs  just  above. 
Therewith  will  not  every  traveller  in  our  track  be  satisfied  ?  We 
trust  that  he  will. 

Some  notes  he  will  find  by  the  way,  but  they  are  made,  chiefly, 


VI  PREFACE. 

to  illustrate  the  text — seldom  for  the  purpose  of  proving  its 
genuineness. 

A  Genealogy  of  the  Family  of  Nathan  Hale,  will  also  be 
found.  It  is  from  the  pen  of  a  gentleman,  to  whom  we 
have  already  alluded  as  one  of  the  grand-nephews  of  the 
subject  of  this  Memoir — the  Rev.  EDWARD  E.  HALE,  of  Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts.  Prepared,  as  it  has  been,  with  great 
labor  of  research,  with  scrupulous  judgment,  and  skill  of 
arrangement,  it  forms  a  most  valuable  addition  to  the  present 
volume,  and  can  not  prove  otherwise  than  acceptable,  to  all  espe- 
cially of  the  Hale  blood.  Our  own  obligations  to  its  worthy  author 
for  the  pains  he  has  taken  in  its  execution,  and  for  its  gratuitous 
use  in  our  pages,  are  deep  and  abiding. 

Pictorial  illustrations  also  the  Reader  will  find — views,  first  of 
Hale's  Birth-Place — second,  of  Hale  and  his  brothers  playing  the 
forbidden  game  of  Morris — third  of  his  entering  New  York  with 
his  Prize  Sloop — fourth,  of  his  passing  in  disguise  within  the  Camp 
of  the  Enemy — fifth,  of  his  Capture — sixth,  of  his  march  to  Exe- 
cution— seventh,  of  his  Camp  Basket,  and  Camp  Book — eighth, 
of  his  Monument — and  ninth,  of  Andre.  Save  the  first  view, 
which,  chiefly,  is  copied  from  one  by  J.  W.  Barber  Esquire,  in  his 
"  Historical  Collections  of  Connecticut,"  and  that  of  the  Monu- 
ment, procured  originally  by  the  Secretary  of  the  "  Hale  Associa- 
tion," and  that  of  Andre,  from  a  copy  of  the  one  in  the  Trumbull 
Gallery  at  New  Haven — they  have  all  been  designed  under  the 
eye  of  the  author  of  this  work — in  the  first  instance  for  his  own 
gratification  simply — as  an  ornament  for  his  parlor — and  without 


PREFACE.  Vll 

reference  to  publication.  The  second  owes  its  origin  to  the  skillful 
pencil  of  Henry  Bryant,  artist,  of  Hartford.  The  third  is  from 
the  quick  and  ingenious  hand  of  W.  M.  B.  Hartley  Esquire,  of 
New  York.  The  rest  were  designed  by  Joseph  Ropes,  a  highly 
accomplished  artist,  also  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.  They  have  all 
been  copied  and  impressed,  with  most  praiseworthy  care,  at  the 
excellent  Lithographic  Establishment  of  E.  B.,  and  E.  C.  Kellogg, 
also  of  Hartford. 

That  his  labor  may  prove  grateful,  and  instruct  the  patriotism 
of  the  Reader,  and  move  his  noblest  sensibilities  in  behalf  of  one, 

"  The  pride  of  Peace,  the  rising  hope  of  War," 

who,  in  a  crisis  of  danger  the  most  appalling,  gave  up  youth,  hope, 
ambition,  love,  life,  all,  for  his  native  land,  is  the  fervent  wish  of 
the  author  of  the  following  pages.  Through  these,  NATHAN 
HALE,  the  illustrious  MARTYR-SPY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLU- 
TION, asks  to  be  remembered  by  his  countrymen. 

I.  W.  STUART. 
CHARTER  OAK  PLACE, 

Nov.  30th,  1855. 


1* 


CONTENTS. 

CHAP.  I. 

PAGE. 

HALE'S  birth,  family,  and  birth  place.  His  early  training. 
He  prepares  for  College.  He  enters  Yale.  His  career 
in  College.  He  graduates,  and  takes  a  school  in  East 
Haddam,  Conn.  His  occupations  there.  He  removes 
to  New  London,  and  continues  to  teach.  His  feelings 
and  ability  as  an  instructor.  The  manner  in  which  he 
spent  his  time.  His  correspondence.  His  personal  appear- 
ance. His  great  activity.  The  rich  promise  of  his  youth.  13 

CHAP.  II. 

The  Lexington  Alarm.  Hale  gives  up  his  school,  and  joins 
the  army  as  a  volunteer.  His  motives  in  doing  so.  Is 
stationed  for  a-while  at  New  London.  Leaves  for  Boston. 
The  prospect  before  him.  Joins  the  brigade  of  Gen.  Sulli- 
van". His  life  for  six  months  in  the  Camp  around  Boston. 
His  skill  in  military  discipline — his  studies — his  amuse- 
ments— with  extracts  from  his  Diary 43 

CHAP.   III. 

Hale  leaves  the  vicinity  of  Boston  for  New  York.  His  gal- 
lant capture  of  a  British  sloop  in  the  East  River.  His 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

station,  occupation,  patriotism,  attachments,  and  character- 
istic modesty,  illustrated  by  letters  from  his  own  pen.    .     .     70 

CHAP.  IV. 

Circumstances  of  the  American  and  British  armies  when 
Hale  undertook  his  fatal  mission.  The  office  of  a  spy — its 
danger — its  ignominy.  Col.  Knowlton  commissioned  by 
Gen.  Washington  to  procure  some  one  to  undertake  it. 
He  appeals  to  American  officers,  and  to  a  French  serjeant 
in  the  army.  They  all  refuse,  save  Hale,  who  readily 
volunteers  for  the  duty.  His  fellow-officers  warmly  remon- 
strate— but  in  vain.  Hale  nobly  persists  in  his  purpose.  .  82 

CHAP.  V. 

After  receiving  instructions  from  General  Washington,  he 
starts  upon  his  expedition,  accompanied  by  Stephen  Hemp- 
stead,  a  confidential  soldier  of  his  own  company.  They 
reach  Norwalk,  Connecticut.  Hale  here  assumes  a  dis- 
guise, parts  with  his  companion,  and  leaves  for  Long 
Island  in  the  sloop  Huntington,  Captain  Pond.  Safe  pas- 
sage across  the  Sound.  His  journey  to  New  York,  and 
its  risks 97 

CHAP.  VI. 

He  starts  on  his  return  to  the  American  Camp.  Reaches 
the  "  Cedars,"  East  Neck,  Huntington,  L.  I.,  where  he  is 
captured.  His  behaviour  on  the  occasion.  Is  carried  to 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGJC. 

New  York.  The  great  fire  in  the  city  at  the  time.  Is 
immediately  taken  before  Gen.  Howe.  The  head-quarters, 
appearance,  and  character  of  the  British  Commander-in- 
chief.  Hale's  heroic  conduct  upon  his  examination.  Is 
condemned  as  a  spy,  and  is  to  be  hung  "  at  daybreak  the 
next  morning.'11 108 

CHAP.  VII. 

A  reflection.  Hale  unappalled.  His  confinement  after  sen- 
tence. His  jailer  and  executioner,  William  Cunningham, 
Provost-Marshal  of  the  British  army.  Cruel  treatment 
of  Hale.  His  gloomy  situation.  His  noble  endurance. 
Writes  letters  to  his  friends,  and  prepares  himself,  sublime- 
ly, for  the  catastrophe.  Is  taken  out  to  die.  The  brutal 
Provost-Marshal  tauntingly  demands  from  him  a  dying 
speech.  That  speech  !  The  fatal  swing 123 

CHAP.  VIII. 

Effect  of  Hale's  death — upon  Gen.  Washington — upon  the 
American  army — upon  his  relatives  and  friends  else- 
where— upon  his  camp  attendant,  Asher  Wright.  Deep 
and  general  mourning.  The  Hale  Monument  Association. 
The  Monument.  Extracts  from' poetry  in  memory  of  Hale. 
An  epitaph  by  a  friend.  Comparison  between  Hale  and 
Andre.  Conclusion.  .  144 


XU  CONTENTS. 

APPENDIX. 

PAGE. 

A.  Genealogy  of  the  Family  of  Nathan  Hale, 189 

B.  Of  Kale's  father, 211 

C.  Bale's  Linonian  Society  Speech, 213 

D.  List  of  Hale's  classmates, 216 

E.  Sketch  of  Hale's  friend,  Benjamin  Tallmadge,      .     .     .217 

F.  Sketch  of  the  lady  to  whom  Hale  was  betrothed,  .     .     .  223 

G.  Hale's  Diary, 226 

H.  Sketch  of  Hale's  companion,  Stephen  Hempstead,   .     .  251 

I.      Of  Hale's  supposed  betrayal  by  a  relative, 257 

J.  Remarks  on  Hale  by  Hon.  II.  J.  Raymond  of  New  York,  268 


NATHAN  HALE. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

Hale's  birth,  family,  and  birthplace.  His  early  training.  He 
prepares  for  College.  He  enters  Yale.  His  career  in  College. 
He  graduates,  and  takes  a  school  in  East  Haddam,  Conn.  His 
occupations  there.  He  removes  to  New  London,  and  continues 
to  teach.  His  feelings  and  ability  as  an  instructor.  The  manner 
in  which  he  spent  his  time.  His  correspondence.  His  personal 
appearance.  His  great  activity.  The  rich  promise  of  his 
youth. 

NATHAN  HALE  was  born  in  Coventry,  Con- 
necticut, June  sixth,  1755.  He  was  the  sixth  of 
twelve  children,  nine  sons  and  three  daughters, 
offspring  of  Eichard  and  Elizabeth  Hale,  and  was 
the  third  in  descent  from  John  Hale,  the  first 
minister  of  Beverly,  Massachusetts.*  His  father, 
a  man  of  sterling  integrity,  piety  and  industry, 
had  emigrated  early  in  life  from  Newbury  in 
Massachusetts  to  Coventry,  where,  as  farmer, 

*  See  Appendix  A. 

2 


14  NATHAN    HALE. 

magistrate,  deacon  in  the  church,  and  representa- 
tive several  times  in  the  General  Assembly,  he 
passed  a  long,  laborious  and  useful  life,  and  died 
on  the  first  of  June,  1802,  much  lamented.*  His 
mother,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth 
Strong,  of  Coventry,  was  a  lady  of  high  moral 
and  domestic  worth,  strongly  attached  to  her 
children,  and  careful  of  their  culture.  The  family 
was  eminently  Puritan  in  its  faith,  tastes,  and 
manners — a  quiet,  strict,  godly  household,  where 
the  Bible  ruled,  and  family  prayers  never  failed, 
nor  was  grace  ever  omitted  at  meals,  nor  work 
done  after  sundown  on  a  Saturday  night. 

The  nature  of  Nathan  Hale's  early  training 
may  hence  be  understood.  He  must  have  been 
brought  up  scrupulously  "in  the  fear  of  God." 
His  after  life  proves  that  he  was,  though  when  a 
stripling  his  lively  instincts  led  him  at  times  to 
rebel  a  little,  with  some  of  his  brothers,  but  never 
rudely,  against  parental  strictness.  An  incident 
is  preserved,  illustrating '  this  last  remark.  His 
father  forbade  his  children  to  use  the  morris-board, 

*  See  Appendix  B. 


NATHAN     HALE.  15 

thinking  the  diversion  might  lead  to  evil,  and  to 
restrain  them,  would  allow  at  times  but  one  light 
in  the  room.  This  he  was  accustomed  to  hold  in 
his  own  hand,  while  he  sat  in  a  large  arm-chair, 
and  read  till  he  sank  to  sleep.  The  attempt  to 
remove  the  candlestick  from  his  grasp  was  almost 
sure  to  result  in  waking  him.  So  the  boys,  Na- 
than among  them — thoughtless  for  the  moment 
of  the  wrong  of  disobedience — used  to  cluster 
around  his  chair,  and  play  out  their  games  on  the 
morris-board,  while  the  sleeping  father,  uncon- 
sciously at  the  time — 

"Holding  the  tallow  candle  till  its  close, 
Let  no  flame  waste  o'er  his  repose." 

The  old-fashioned,  two-storied  house  in  which 
scenes  like  this  just  described  took  place,  stands 
upon  elevated  ground,  with  a  fine  prospect  west- 
ward, and  had,  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak, 
the  appendages  of  copious  yards,  and  outbuildings, 
and  trees,*  while  the  town  around,  the  gift  of  the 


*  See  Frontispiece.     The  three  rows  of  maples  in  front  of  the 
Hale  mansion  were  not  there  in  the  time  of  Nathan,  but  were  set 


If.  * . 

ft 
16  ffATHAN     HALE. 

Mohegan  sachem  Joseph  to  its  first  proprietors, 
was  much  varied  by  hill  and  dale,  forest  and 
meadow,  and  beautified  with  a  large  lake  and 
numerous  streams. 

Nathan  early  exhibited  a  fondness  for  those  rural 
sports  to  which  such  a  birthplace  and  scenery 
naturally  invited  him.  He  loved  the  gun  and 
fishing-rod,  and  exhibited  great  ingenuity  in  fash- 
ioning juvenile  implements  of  every  sort.  He 
was  fond  of  running,  leaping,  wrestling,  firing  at  a 
mark,  throwing,  lifting,  playing  ball.  In  conse- 
quence, his  infancy,  at  first  feeble,  soon  hardened 
by  simple  diet  and  exercise  into  a  firm  boyhood. 
And  with  the  growth  of  his  body,  his  mind, 
naturally  bright  and  active,  developed  rapidly.  He 
mastered  his  books  with  ease,  was  fond  of  reading 
out  of  school,  and  was  constantly  applying  his  in- 
formation. His  mother,  and  particularly  his  grand- 
mother Strong,  nourished  his  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  to  their  influence  it  was  owing  that  his  father 
at  last  consented,  contrary  to  his  original  purpose, 


out  many  years  subsequently,  by  order  and  at  the  expense  of  the 
late  David  Hale  Esquire  of  New  York. 


NATHAN     HALE.  17 

to  fit  him  for  college.  He  was  to  be  educated  for 
the  ministry,  as  were  also  two  of  his  brothers,  and 
was  placed  as  a  pupil  under  the  care  of  Doctor 
Joseph  Huntington,  the  pastor  of  the  parish  in 
which  he  was  born. 

Classical  academies  were  then  rare  out  of  the 
county  towns  of  New  England,  and  the  country 
boy  who  aspired  to  a  liberal  education  was  gener- 
ally compelled  to  learn  his  Latin  and  Greek  from 
the  clergyman.  And  in  most  cases  he  was  thus 
well  taught.  In  Hale's  instance  there  is  no  doubt 
of  the  fact.  His  instructor,  as  his  various  contro- 
versial and  other  writings  show,  was  very  compe- 
tent. He  "  was  considered,  in  the  churches,  a  pat- 
tern of  learning,"  was  laborious,  assiduous,  and 
mild,  *  and  when,  in  1770,  young  Nathan,  then 


*  The  following  epitaph  on  his  grave-stone  gives  a  just  summary 
of  his  character : — 

"  Rev.  Joseph  Huntington,  D.  D.,  ordained  June  29th,  1763  ;  died  Dec.  25th, 
1794,  in  the  60th  year  of  his  age,  and  32d  of  his  ministry.  He  was  an  emi- 
nent divine,  and  laborious  minister;  an  affectionate  parent  and  friend.  He 
was  considered  in  the  churches  a  pattern  of  learning,  an  illustrious  example  of 
extensive  charity,  and  was  much  improved  as  a  councillor  and  peace-maker. 
Blessed  are  the  peace-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God." 

f      He  was  the  brother  of  Samuel  Huntington  L.  L.  D.,  who  was 
2* 


18  NATHAN     HALE. 

in  his  sixteenth  year,  presented  himself  for  admis- 
sion to  the  halls  of  Yale,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  he  passed  the  ordeal  of  examination  with 
more  than  usual  credit  in  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  and  a  very  reputable  acquaintance  with 
Sallust,  Cicero,  and  the  Greek  Testament. 

Of  his  career  in  college  but  little  is  known. 
That  it  was  distinguished  by  good  scholarship, 
good  behaviour,  and  industry,  is  however  certain. 
That  it  was  marked  by  great  popularity  among  his 
fellows,  and  with  the  Faculty,  is  equally  certain. 
Doctor  Dwight,  his  tutor,  entertained  a  very  high 
idea  of  his  capacity.  He  has  beautifully  eulogized 
him  in  verse.  He  was  wonted,  down  to  the  close 
of  his  life,  frequently  to  recur  to  him,  and  always 
in  terms  of  admiration  of  his  course  in  college, 
and  of  deep  regret  for  his  untimely  fate.*  By 

President,  in  1779  and  1780,  of  the  old  Continental  Congress,  and 
afterwards,  for  nine  years,  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  Connecticut. 
He  left  two  children — one  of  whom  became -the  wife  of  Edward 
Dorr  Griffin,  D.  D.,  President  of  William's  College,  and  the  other, 
a  son,  Samuel  Huntington,  emigrated  to  Ohio,  of  which  State  he 
became  Chief  Justice  and  Governor. 

*  In  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  January,  1836,  ia 


NATHAN    HALE.  19 

him,  as  also  from  relatives  of  the  pupil,  we  are 
assured  that  Hale  was  peculiarly  fond  of  scientific 
pursuits,  and  that  in  these  he  stood  at  the  head 
of  his  class.  "And  Science  lured  him  to  her 
sweet  abode,"  is  the  language  of  Doctor  Dwight — • 
a  fact  proved  also  by  the  preponderance  of  books 
in  this  department  in  Hale's  own  little  library — 
among  which,  particularly,  was  a  new  and  com- 
plete Dictionary,  in  four  large  octavo  volumes,  of 
the  arts  and  sciences — comprehending  all  the 
branches  of  useful  knowledge,  with  accurate  des- 
criptions as  well  of  various  machines  and  instru- 
ments as  of  the  classes,  kinds,  preparations  and 
uses  of  natural  productions,  and  illustrated  with 


a  communication,  signed  M.,  and  written,  we  are  assured  by  the 
Editor,  by  a  "  gentleman  who  was  connected  with  the  medical  staff 
of  the  Revolutionary  army,"  and  who  was  "  an  early  acquaintance 
and  friend  of  Hale."  In  this  the  writer  says :  "  Nathan  Hale  I 
was  acquainted  with,  from  his  frequent  visits  at  my  father's  house, 
while  an  academical  student.  His  own  remarks,  and  the  remarks 
of  my  father,  left  at  that  period  an  indelible  impression  on  my 
mind." — "  His  urbanity  and  general  deportment  were  peculiarly 
attracting,  and  for  solid  acquirements  I  am  sure  he  would  lose 
nothing  in  comparison  with  Andre." 


20  NATHAN    HALE. 

above  three  hundred  copper-plate  engravings.  In 
the  languages  also  he  was  a  proficient.  He  stood, 
as  the  Commencement  Exercises  show,  among  the 
first  thirteen  in  a  class  of  thirty-six. 

That  he  was  anxious  for  mental  improvement, 
and  labored  diligently  to  secure  it,  is  proved  by 
other  facts.  While  at  Yale,  he  took  a  most  active 
and  leading  part  as  a  member  of  the  Linonian 
Society  in  this  Institution — a  Society  which  was 
established  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing,  aside 
from  the  regular  course  of  academical  study,  lite- 
rary stimulus  and  rhetorical  improvement  to  the 
undergraduates,  and  of  promoting  in  their  midst 
feelings  of  harmony  and  friendship.  Hale  was  the 
first  of  his  own  class  to  be  chosen  as  its  Chancellor, 
or  presiding  officer.*  With  Timothy  D wight, 
afterwards  the  distinguished  President  of  Yale 


*  The  Linonian  Society  was  founded  in  1753 — and  is  the  oldest 
organization  of  its  kind,  it  is  believed,  to  be  found  in  the  country. 
Its  presiding  officer  was  called  Chancellor  down  to  1789 — after 
which  time  he  was  called  President.  Of  Rale's  class,  twenty-one 
were  members — of  whom,  after  Hale,  Thomas  Mead,  William 
Robinson,  Ebenezer  Williams,  and  Roger  Alden,  were  also  Chan- 
cellors. 


NATHAN     HALE.  21 

College — and  James  Hillhouse,  afterwards  the  cele- 
brated civilian  and  Senator  in  Congress  from  Con- 
necticut— lie  cooperated  in  founding  its  Library. 
The  Spectator,  Addison's  Evidences,  Paradise  Lost, 
Young's  Night  Thoughts,  Priors  Poems,  the  Trav- 
els of  Cyrus,  and  the  Elements  of  Criticism,  in 
two  volumes — works  which  indicate  the  sound- 
ness of  his  own  literary  taste — were  among  the 
books  bestowed  by  himself  for  this  purpose — to  a 
Society  which  now  counts  its  volumes  to  a  number 
exceeding  thirteen  thousand,  and  which,  with  just 
pride  and  pleasure,  looks  back  to  Hale  as  one  of 
the  strong  pillars  of  its  infancy. 

But  besides  his  agency  in  founding  its  Library  ^ 
the  records  of  the  Society  in  question,  show  Hale's 
praiseworthy  diligence  in  other  respects.  His 
name,  in  his  own  day,  occurs  in  the  reports  of 
almost  every  meeting — at  one  time,  as  having  de- 
livered "  a  very  interesting  narration" — at  another, 
'  'an  eloquent  extemporaneous  address  " — at  another, 
as  taking  part  in  some  one  of  the  plays  which 
were  frequently  acted  at  that  period — and  upon 
still  other  occasions,  as  proposing  questions  for 


22  NATHAN    HALE 

discussion.*  At  the  close  of  the  academical  year 
in  1772,  it  devolved  upon  him  specially — in  his 
capacity  as  in-coming  Chancellor — to  respond,  in 
behalf  of  the  fraternity,  to  a  Valedictory  Address 
from  one  of  the  members  of  the  graduating  class — 
doubtless  the  retiring  Chancellor  of  the  Society. 
This  duty  he  performed  with  propriety  and  with 
affectionate  zeal — as  his  Speech  upon  the  occasion? 
now  fortunately  in  our  hands,  abundantly  shows,  f 
At  thought  of  separating  from  those,  Hale  pro- 


*Many  of  the  reports  of  the  Society  for  the  year  1771  were 
written  by  Hale  himself  as  scribe,  and  are  signed  by  his  name  in 
full.  Here,  for  example,  is  an  entry  made  by  him,  which  contains 
a  question  for  discussion,  proposed  by  himself:  — 

"  Feb.  27th,  1771. — This  venerable  Society  met  at  Hayes'  Room. 
The  meeting  was  opened  by  a  Narration,  spoken  by  Williams, 
and  after  some  questions  the  meeting  was  dismissed.  Question 
brought  in  by  myself.  Q.  How  are  the  parts  of  life  divided  ? 
Answer.  Into  three :  the  vegetative,  the  sensitive,  and  the 
rational. 

Test,  NATHAN  HALE." 

tWe  are  indebted  to  Chauncey  M.  Depew  Esq.,  the  President 
at  this  time  of  the  Linonian  Society,  for  this  Speech,  and  for  other 
valuable  items  illustrating  Hale's  connection  with  the  said  Society. 
He  carefully  scrutinized  the  records  in  our  behalf,  and  for  this 


NATHAN    HALE.  23 

.ceeded  to  say,  who  had  "  been  rendered  dear  "  to 
the  Society,  "not  only  by  a  long  and  intimate 
acquaintance,  but  by  the  strictest  bonds  of  unity 
and  friendship  "—by  their  "  ability  "—and  by  the 
"regard"  they  had  ever  expressed  for  "Linonia 
and  her  sons" — the  countenances  of  those  present 
were  "bedimmed  with  an  unusual  kind  of  sadness." 
The  departure  of  these  gentlemen,  he  remarked, 
was  deeply  to  be  regretted — whether  they  were 
viewed  as  "patrons,"  whose  "utmost  care  and 
vigilance  "  the  Society  had  shared — or  as  "  bene- 
factors," whose  liberality  had  been  manifested  "in 
rich  and  valuable  donations  "  to  the  Association — 
or  as  "friends  and  brothers,"  whose  "amiable 
company  and  conversation,"  and  whose  "  cordial 
affection  "  had  been  the  source  of  "  inexpressible 
happiness."  Under  their  wise  management  of  af- 
fairs, he  continued — the  members  of  the  Society 
had  not  only  "  been  entertained  with  all  the  pleas- 
ures of  familiar  conversation,"  but  improved  "in 


attention  will  please  receive  our  special  thanks.  To  the  prompt 
courtesy  also  of  E.  K.  Foster  Esq.,  of  New  Haven,  we  are  in 
this  connection  much  indebted. 


24  NATHAN    HALE. 

useful  knowledge  and  literature."  They  had  taken. 
"  unwearied  pains,"  he  affirmed,  at  a  time  when 
the  Society  was  warmly  attacked,  to  "suppress  its 
opposers,"*  and  increasing  its  "dignity  and 
power,"  had  caused  it  to  rise,  "step  by  step,"  to  its 
"ancient  splendor."  For  all  these  services,  as  well 
as  for  the  judicious  instructions  in  regard  to  the 
management  of  the  Society  which  they  had  just 
communicated  through  their  Valedictorian,  Hale 
returned  the  sincere  thanks  of  the  members  who 
were  to  remain,  and  pledged  their  future  "spirited" 
exertions  "in  Linonia's  cause."  "With  steadiness 
and  resolution,"  he  affirmed,  they  would  "strive 
to  make  her  shine  with  unparalled  lustre  " — and 
giving  assurance  that  the  memory  of  their  parting 
friends  would  "always  be  very  dear"  to  the  fra- 
ternity, he  invoked  for  them  all,  the  propitious 
smiles  of  Heaven,  f 

In  still  farther  demonstration  of  his  thirst  for 
intellectual  improvement,  it  is  to  be  mentioned,  that, 
in  addition  to  an  active  participation  in  the  regular 


*He  refers  here  to  a  rival  society,  then  not  long  formed. 
tSee  Appendix  C. 


NATHAN    HALE.  25 

exercises  of  the  Linonian  Society,  and  of  the  Col- 
lege, Hale  was  in  the  habit  of  epistolary  corres- 
pondence with  some  of  his  classmates  upon  literary 
subjects — on  themes  of  taste  and  criticism,  and  of 
grammar  and  philology. 

He  would  correct  carefully,  and  in  writing,  the 
compositions  of  some  of  his  fellows,  and  receive 
the  same  friendly  office  in  return.  A  letter  from 
Benjamin  Tallmadge,  his  classmate,  still  preserved, 
is  of  this  character,  in  which  the  latter  vindicates 
his  own  use  of  the  comparative  degree  against  a 
previous  criticism  by  Hale.* 


*  "  In  my  delightsome  retirement  from  the  fruitless  bustle  of  the 
noisy  " — writes  Tallmadge  to  Hale,  in  this  connection,  in  a  few  pass- 
ages which  we  here  extract — "  with  my  usual  delight,  and  perhaps 
with  more  than  common  attention,  I  perused  your  epistle.  Replete 
as  it  was  with  sentiments  worthy  to  be  contemplated,  let  me  assure 
you,  with  the  confidence  of  an  affectionate  friend,  that  with  noth- 
ing was  my  pleasure  so  greatly  heightened  as  with  your  various 
remarks  upon  my  preceding  performance;  which,  so  far  from 
carrying  the  appearance  of  a  censuring  critic's  empty  amusement, 
seemed  to  me  to  be  wholly  the  result  of  unspotted  regard,  and 
(as  I  may  say)  fraternal  esteem. 

"  This  method  of  writing  is  not  wholly  destitute  of  every  advan- 
tage. [Such  an  allegation  had  been  made.]  For  in  the  first 
3 


26  NATHAN    HALE. 

Nor  did  Hale  while  in  college  forget  his  ath- 
letic sports.  The  marks  of  a  prodigious  leap 
which  he  made  upon  the  Green  in  New  Haven, 
were  long  preserved,  and  pointed  out.  His  in- 
tercourse with  his  mates  was  always  affable.  He 
formed  many  college  friendships,  and  they  lasted 
till  his  death — with  James  Hillhouse,  Benjamin 
Tallmadge,  Eoger  Alden,  John  P.  Wyllys,  Tho- 
mas Mead,  Elihu  Marvin,  and  others  his  class- 
mates, with  whom  he  kept  up  an  intimate  corres- 
pondence as  long  as  he  lived.*  He  was  assigned, 
on  graduating,  a  part  with  Tallmadge, f  and  "Wil- 


plaoe,  it  affords  an  opportunity,  as  well  as  gives  a  person  a  dispo- 
sition, carefully  to  scrutinize  all  manner  of  writing,  while  it  will 
be  a  monitor  to  himself  to  avoid  defects  manifest  in  the  same,  and 
secondly,  it  may  be  of  advantage  to  us  in  causing  us  carefully  to 
consider  what  we  assert,  that  so  we  may  be  able  to  defend  the 
same  against  the  captious  wills,  and  the  insidious  words  of  our 
adversaries.  To  obtain  advantage  myself,  and  to  be  contributory, 
as  much  as  I  am  able,  to  your  improvement,  was  certainly  my 
whole  design  in  undertaking  this  exercise ;  and  I  doubt  not  but 
that  the  same  reasons  were  your  greatest  inducements." 

*  See  Appendix  D,  for  a  list  of  all  Hale's  classmates. 

fSee  Appendix  E,  for  a  sketch  of  Tallmadge. 


NATHAN    HALE.  27 

liam  Robinson,*  and  Ezra  Samson,  f  in  a  Latin 
Syllogistic  Dispute,  followed  by  a  Forensic  Debate, 
on  the  question,  "  Whether  the  Education  of 
Daughters  be  not,  without  any  just  reason,  more 

*  William  Robinson — a  direct  descendant  from  the  famous  John 
Robinson  of  Leyden — was  born  at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  August 
loth,  1754.  After  leaving  College,  he  studied  for  the  ministry. 
In  1780  he  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  at  Southington, 
Connecticut.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  concerning  him,  that  in  the 
winter  of  this  year — one  of  the  coldest  and  most  severe  upon  rec- 
ord— he  walked  the  whole  distance  from  Windsor  to  Southington, 
about  thirty  miles,  on  snow-shoes,  to  be  settled.  He  continued  in 
this  station  forty-one  years — discharging  its  duties  with  exemplary 
fidelity,  meekness,  and  ability.  Like  his  classmate  Hale,  he  was 
eminently  patriotic,  and  his  cooperation  in  the  Revolution  was  con- 
stant and  powerful.  He  died  August  15th,  1845,  on  his  birth-day, 
aged  seventy-one  years.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev.  Edward  Rob- 
inson L.  L.  D.,  the  distinguished  Professor  in  the  University  of 
Xew  York,  of  George  Robinson  Esq.,  of  Hartford,  and  of  Wil- 
liam Robinson  Esq.,  of  Xew  Haven — both  worthy  citizens  of  Con- 
necticut. 

•(•  Ezra  Samson,  after  graduating,  was  settled  for  awhile  as  a 
clergyman — but  his  health  failing  him,  he  became  editor  first  of 
the  Balance,  published  at  Hudson,  Xew  York,  and  then  of  the 
•Courant,  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  He  was  a  very  worthy  man, 
and  distinguished  as  a  tine  writer. 


28  NATHAN    HALE. 

neglected  than  that  of  Sons  " — a  curious  theme, 
as  implying  in  that  early  day  an  inattention  to  the 
mental  cultivation  of  the  gentler  sex  which  can- 
not be  charged  on  our  own  age.  How  Hale  man- 
aged with  the  subject  we  are  not  informed,  but  an 
especial  favorite  as  he  always  was  with  the  ladies, 
we  doubt  not  that  his  nature  urged  him  upon  this 
occasion  to  vindicate  their  claims  to  educational 
advantages. 

Soon  after  graduating,  which  was  in  September, 
1773,  he  commenced  keeping  school.  His  first 
engagement  in  this  way  was  at  East  Haddam, 
where  he  spent  the  winter  of  1773-4;  in  what 
kind  of  school  precisely  we  are  not  informed,  but 
probably  in  some  select  one  where  he  was  required 
to  instruct  both  in  English  and  in  the  Classical 
Tongues.  East  Haddam  was  at  this  time  a  place 
of  much  wealth  and  business  activity,  but  if  we 
are  to  judge  from  Hale's  own  description,  rather 
secluded  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

"  I  was  at  the  receipt  of  your  letter,"  he  writes 
his  friend  Mead,  May  second,  1774,  from  New 
London,  "  in  East  Haddam  (alias  Moodus,)  a  place 


NATHAN   HALE.  29 

which  I  at  first,  for  a  long  time,  concluded  inac- 
cessable  either  by  friends,  acquaintance,  or  letters. 
Nor  was  I  convinced  of  the  contrary  until  I  re- 
ceived yours,  and  at  the  same  time  two  others 
from  Alden*  and  Wyllys.f  It  was  equally,  or 
more  difficult,  to  convey  anything  from  Moodus." 

* Roger  Alden — of  whom  as  a  friend,  classmate,  and  correspon- 
dent of  Hale,  the  Reader,  we  think,  will  be  pleased  to  know  that, 
like  Hale,  from  purely  patriotic  motives,  he  joined  the  army  of  the 
Revolution,  and  distinguished  himself  as  a  brave  and  efficient  offi- 
cer. In  1777,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Council  of  Safety  of  Con- 
necticut, Adjutant  in  Colonel  Bradley's  regiment.  Governor 
Jonathan  Trumbull  the  first — in  recommending  him  after  the 
war  to  the  post  of  Deputy  Secretary  to  Congress,  speaks  of  him,  in 
a  letter  now  before  us,  dated  April  1 1th,  1785,  in  the  following  com- 
plimentary terms  :  "  Born  in  my  neighborhood,  and  educated  in  a 
manner  under  my  eye,  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  him 
from  his  youth  to  the  present  time,  and  can  therefore  say  that  I  look 
upon  him  as  a  young  gentleman  possessed  of  natural  good  abilities, 
enlarged  by  a  liberal  education,  and  improved  by  several  years 
knowledge  of  mankind  in  the  public  service  of  his  country,  in 
which  he  acquitted  himself  with  honor  and  reputation." — He  died 
at  West  Point,  N.  T.,  Nov.  5th,  1836,  aged  eighty-eight. 

t  John  Palsgrave  Wyllys — born  in  1754,  and  the  son  of  Hon. 
George  Wyllys,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  that  distinguished  Wor- 

thv,  who  for  sixty-one  years  in   succession  filled  the  office  of  Sec- 
3* 


30  NATHAN    HALE. 

But  though  thus  secluded,  it  is  the  testimony 
of  a  highly  intelligent  old  lady,*  who  knew  Hale 
well  when  he  resided  at  East  Haddam,  that  he 
was  happy,  faithful  and  successful  in  his  office  of 
teacher.  "  Everybody  loved  him,"  she  said,  "  he 

retary  for  his  native  State,  and  as  such  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  This  son,  like  his  classmates  Hale  and  Alden,  also 
entered  the  service  of  his  country  when  the  war  broke  out — and 
he  became  a  Major  in  the  Revolutionary  Army.  He  was  subse- 
quently with  Gen.  Harmar  in  the  famous  expedition  of  this  officer, 
in  1790,  against  the  western  Indians,  and  in  the  battle  at  Miami 
Village  was  unfortunately  slain.  Upon  this  occasion  he  was  in 
command  of  a  detachment  of  about  sixty  men,  and  at  day-break 
in  the  morning,  was  cut  off  by  a  large  party  of  the  foe  which 
"came  in  his  rear  through  some  hazels."  Though  mortally 
wounded,  he  yet  earnestly  begged  to  be  placed  on  his  horse  again, 
that  he  might  give  the  enemy  another  charge.  His  loss  was  deeply 
deplored  both  by  Gen.  Harmar,  and  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  each  of 
whom  spoke  of  him  as  a  brave  and  valuable  officer.  The  latter 
made  special  and  honorable  mention  of  him  at  the  time,  in  a  com- 
munication to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  President  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati of  the  State  of  New  York,  upon  the  news  of  his  death, 
instructed  the  members  of  the  Society,  "  in  testimony  of  the  high 
respect "  they  entertained  for  his  memory,  to  "  wear  crape  for  the 
space  of  twenty-one  days." 

*  The  late  Mrs.  Hannah  Pierson. 


NATHAN    HALE.  31 

was  so  sprightly,  intelligent,  and  kind" — and,  she 
added  withal,  "so  handsome  !"  The  rich  scenery 
of  the  town,  its  rocky  and  uneven  face,  the  phe- 
nomena from  which  it  derives  its  Indian  name,  its 
numerous  legends  of  Indian  Pawaws,  its  Mount 
Tom  and  Salmon  Eiver,  were  all  sources  of  great 
delight  to  the  young  instructor,  as  habitually,  the 
cares  of  school  being  over,  he  wandered  around 
for  air  and  exercise,  for  pleasure  and  the  sports  of 
the  chase — there 

"  where  the  little  country  girls 
Still  stop  to  whisper,  and  listen,  and  look, 
And  tell,  while  dressing  their  sunny  curls, 
Of  the  Black  Fox  of  Salmon  Brook." 

His  happy  combination  of  amiability,  vivacity, 
and  intelligence,  soon  attracted  attention  else- 
where, and  in  the  winter  of  1773-4,  we  find  him 
negotiating  with  the  Proprietors  of  the  Union 
Grammar  School  in  New  London  for  the  charge 
of  that  institution.  This  school  was  a  select  one, 
where  none  were  accepted  as  teachers  but  those 
"  whose  characters  bore  the  strictest  scrutiny,"  and 
where  Latin,  English,  writing,  and  arithmetic  were 


32  NATHAN    HALE. 

taught,  and  where  the  salary  was  seventy  pounds 
a  year,  with  the  privilege  of  teaching,  out  of  the 
regular  school  hours,  private  classes.  In  the 
spring  of  1774  Hale  took  this  situation,  and  in  a 
letter  to  his  friend  Roger  Alden,  dated  New  Lon- 
don, May  second,  1774,  thus  describes  it : 

"  I  am  at  present  in  a  school  in  New  London. 
I  think  my  situation  somewhat  preferable  to  what 
it  was  last  winter.  My  school  is  by  no  means 
difficult  to  take  care  of — it  consists  of  about  thirty 
scholars,  ten  of  whom  are  Latiners,  and  all  but 
one  of  the  rest  are  writers.  I  have  a  very  con- 
venient school-house,  and  the  people  are  kind  and 
sociable.  I  promise  myself  some  more  satisfac- 
tion in  writing  and  receiving  letters  from  you 
than  I  have  as  yet  had.  I  know  of  no  stated 
communication,  but  without  any  doubt  opportu- 
nities will  be  much  more  frequent  than  while  I  was 
at  Moodus." 

In  a  letter  to  his  uncle  Samuel  Hale,  of  Ports- 
mouth, New  Hampshire — a  most  estimable  and  ex- 
cellent man,  who,  for  a  long  series  of  years  prior 
to  the  Ee volution,  was  at  the  head  of  the  best 


XATHAN    HALE.  33 

academy  in  that  province — *  he  gives,  five  months 
later,  a  further  history  of  his  school-keeping,  f 

'!  My  own  employment,"  he  says,  "  is  at  present 
the  same  that  you  have  spent  your  days  in.  I 
have  a  school  of  32  boys,  about  half  Latin,  the 
rest  English.  The  salary  allowed  me  is  £70  per 
annum.  In  addition  to  this  I  have  kept,  during 
the  summer,  a  morning  school,  between  the  hours 
of  five  and  seven,  of  about  20  young  ladies  ;  for 
which  I  have  received  6s.  a  scholar,  by  the  quar- 
ter. The  people  with  whom  I  live  are  free  and  gen- 
erous ;  many  of  them  are  gentlemen  of  sense  and 
merit.  They  are  desirous  that  I  would  continue 
and  settle  in  the  school,  and  propose  a  considera- 
ble increase  of  wages.  I  am  much  at  a  loss  whether 
to  accept  their  proposals.  Your  advice  in  this 
matter,  coming  from  an  uncle  and  from  a  man 
who  has  spent  his  life  in  the  business,  would,  I 
think,  be  the  best  I  could  possibly  receive.  A  few 

*  "  He  was  the  teacher,''  says  a  manuscript  in  our  possession, 
u  of  Langdon,  and  Pickering,  and  others  of  the  shining  lights  of 
Revolutionary  days  in  Xew  Hampshire.  His  life  was  a  life  of  use- 
fulness.'' See  Appendix.  Hale  Geneal.,  Xos.  15. 

tThe  letter  is  dated.  New  London,  Sept.  24th,  1774. 


34  X  A  T  H  A  N    H  A  L  E  . 

lines  on  this  subject,  and  also  to  acquaint  me  with 
the  welfare  of  your  family,  if  your  leisure  will 
permit,  will  be  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  your 
most  dutiful  nephew,  NATHAN  HALE." 

This  letter  shows  that  Hale's  services  as  a  teacher 
at  New  London  were  highly  appreciated  by  his 
employers — a  fact  which  we  learn  also  abundantly 
from  other  sources,  and  particularly  from  his  pu- 
pils— who,  in  after  years,  all  spoke  in  strong 
terms  both  of  his  skill  in  instruction,  and  of  his 
excellence  as  a  man.* 

*  One  of  these  pupils,  Colonel  Samuel  Green,  now  of  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  still  survives — and  the  following  is  his  testimony : 
"  Hale,"  he  informs  us,  "  was  a  man  peculiarly  engaging  in  his 
manners — these  were  mild  and  genteel.  The  scholars,  old  and 
young,  were  attached  to  him.  They  loved  him  for  his  tact  and 
amiability.  He  was  wholly  without  severity,  and  had  a  wonderful 
control  over  boys.  He  was  sprightly,  ardent  and  steady — bore  a 
fine  moral  character,  and  was  respected  highly  by  all  his  acquain- 
tances. The  school  in  which  he  taught  was  owned  by  the  first 
gentlemen  in  New  London,  all  of  whom  were  exceedingly  grati- 
fied by  Hale's  skill  and  assiduity."  With  this  agrees  the  testimo- 
ny of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Poole,  of  New  London,  long  an  inmate  of 
the  same  family  with  Hale,  who  says  that  "  his  capacity  as  a 


NATHAN   HALE.  35 

His  time  at  New  London,  out  of  school,  was 
spent,  a  portion  in  social  pleasures,  but  much  of 
it  in  self-culture.  The  letters  addressed  to  him 
which  remain,  as  well  as  some  letters  of  his  own, 
show  that  he  cultivated  the  intimacies  he  con- 
tracted in  college,  as  well  as  those  which  grew 
up  elsewhere,  with  great  assiduity,  and  that  he 
wrote  as  well  to  improve  his  understanding  as  to 
pour  out  his  friendship.*  The  labors  and  duties 
of  a  teacher  were  a  frequent  theme  in  his  letters 
to  his  classmates  engaged  in  the  same  vocation. 
Nor  were  the  ladies  forgotten-  by  his  pen.  He 


teacher,  and  the  mildness  of  his  mode  of  instruction,  were  highly 
appreciated  both  by  parents  and  pupils" — that  "  he  was  peculiarly 
free  from  the  shadow  of  guile  " — and  that  "  his  simple,  unostenta- 
tious manner  of  imparting  right  views  and  feelings  to  less  cultiva- 
ted understandings"  was  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  individual, 
who,  at  the  period  of  her  acquaintance  with  him,  or  after,  had 
fallen  under  her  observation.  To  the  same  effect  Miss  Caulkins, 
in  her  History  of  Xew  London,  remarks,  that  "  as  a  teacher,  Capt. 
Hale  is  said  to  have  been  a  firm  disciplinarian,  but  happy  in  his 
mode  of  conveying  instruction,  and  highly  respected  by  his  pupils." 
*  Besides  many  of  his  classmates,  John  Hallam,  Edward  Hal- 
lam,  Timothy  Green,  and  Thomas  Fosdick,  of  New  London,  Con- 
necticut, were  among  his  principal  correspondents. 


36  NATHAN  HALE. 

had  many  female  correspondents,  and  among 
these,  one  to  his  fancy  "a  bright,  particular  star" 
he  "thought  to  wed" — a  young  lady  of  his  native 
town  with  whom,  in  his  father's  family,  he  passed 
several  years  of  intimacy,  and  to  whom  while  in 
college  he  was  betrothed.*  Sometimes,  though 

*  It  is  to  her  that  William  Robinson,  his  classmate  in  college, 
refers  in  the  following  passage  in  a  letter  dated  Windsor,  [Conn.,] 
January  twentieth,  1773,  and  addressed  to  Hale  at  East  Haddam. 

"  My  school  is  not  large ;  my  neighbors  are  kind  and  clever, 
and  (summatim)  my  distance  from  a  house  on  your  side  the  river 
which  contains  an  object  worthy  the  esteem  of  every  one,  and,  as  I 
conclude,  has  yours  in  an  especial  manner,  is  not  great." 

Her  maiden  flame  was  Alice  Adams,  and  she  was  born  in  Can- 
terbury, Connecticut.  Her  mother  was  the  second  wife  of  Captain 
Hale's  father.  She  was  distinguished  both  for  her  intelligence 
and  her  beauty.  [See  Appendix  F.] 

At  the  time  of  Hale's  first  engagement  to  her,  the  parties — in 
the  judgment  of  mutual  friends — were  altogether  too  young  and 
inexperienced  to  beeome  affianced.  Besides,  there  were  objections 
to  the  connection  on  the  ground  of  Hale's  father  having  already 
married,  for  his  second  wife,  the  mother  of  Alice,  and  of  Hale's 
brother  John  having  married  Sarah,  the  sister  of  Alice.  The 
engagement,  therefore,  through  the  intervention  of  their  friends, 
was  terminated — and  Alice,  February  8th,  1773,  married,  for  her 
first  husband,  Mr.  Elijah  Ripley,  merchant,  of  Coventry,  Con- 


NATHAXHALE.  37 

without  'a  poet's  just  pretence,'  with  no  attempt 
at  the  graces 

"  which  methods  teach, 
And  which  a  master  hand  can  only  reach," 

he  threw  his  thoughts  into  rhyme — but  not  often, 
unless  provoked  by  some  poetical  epistle  which 

necticut.  Mr.  Ripley  died  December  26th,  1774,  in  the  twenty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age — twenty-two  months  and  twenty-one  days 
after  his  marriage — leaving  his  wife  a  widow  in  her  eighteenth  year, 
and  leaving  one  child,  a  sou  named  Elijah,  who  died  October  17th, 
1775,  in  the  second  year  of  his  age.  After  the  decease  of  Mr. 
Ripley,  the  match  was  renewed  between  Nathan  and  Alice — the" 
latter  at  the  time  having  been  adopted  into  the  family  of  Hale's 
father — and  remained  unbroken  until  Hale's  death.  Subsequently 
to  this  event,  Mrs.  Ripley  married  William  Lawrence  Esq.,  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut — where  she  lived  highly  esteemed,  to  a  ripe  old 
age.  She  died  September  4th,  1845,  aged  eighty-eight — deceasing 
in  the  same  month,  and  having  been  born  in  the  same  month  with 
Hale.  She  possessed  for  many  years  a  miniature  of  Hale,  besides 
numerous  letters  from  him,  and  one  of  his  Camp-Books.  The 
miniature,  most  unfortunately,  has  disappeared.  So  also  have  the 
letters ;  but  the  Camp-Book  we  have  seen  and  examined.  It  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  one  of  the  lady's  grand-daughters,  to 
whose  polite  and  careful  noting  of  her  grandmother's  statements 
we  are  indebted  for  several  very  interesting  facts  about  Hale. 

Shakspeare  makes  "  the  idolatrous  fancy  "  of  a  surviving  lover 
4 


38  N  A  T  H  A  N   H  A  L  E  . 

he  received — as  once  by  one  from  his  friend  Tall- 
madge  at  Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  to  whom,  in 
reply  to  an  apology  by  the  latter  for  his  Muse, 
Hale  writes, 

"  You're  wrong  to  blame 
Your  generous  Muse,  and  call  her  lame  : 
For  when  arrived,  no  mark  was  found 
Of  weakness,  lameness,  sprain,  or  wound  " — 

and  bestriding  her  himself,  he  describes  her  as 
tripping,  "without  or  spur  or  whip,"  back  "along 
the  way  she  lately  trod" — giving 

"  no  fear  or  pain. 
Unless  at  times  to  hold  the  rein  " — 

until  at  last,  arrived  at  Wethersfield,  Tallmadge 
is  invited,  from  the  appearance  of  his  Pegasus,  to 
judge, 

"  unless  entirely  sound, 
If  she  could  bear  [Hale]  such  a  round." 

"  sanctify  the  relics  "  of  a  lover  lost,  and  the  strongest  memories 
of  old  age,  it  is  well  known,  fasten  upon  the  years  and  events  of 
youth.  It  is  a  striking  circumstance  in  illustration,  that  the  lady 
hi  question,  just  as  her  pulse  of  life  was  ebbing  to.  its  stop,  mur- 
mured as  her  last  words  on  earth,  "  Write  to  Nathan  /" 


NATHAN    HALE.  39 

It  is  the  testimony  of  all  who  knew  Hale,  both 
at  New  London  and  elsewhere,  that  he  was  ever 
busy.  "A  man  ought  never  to  lose  a  moment's 
time,"  he  enters  in  his  Diary — "if  he  put  off  a 
thing  from  one  minute  to  the  next,  his  reluctance 
is  but  increased" — and  his  own  life  fully  con- 
formed to  the  injunction  which  he  thus  formally 
notes  down.  "Always  employed  about  some- 
thing," testifies  Mrs.  Lawrence,  "he  was  ingenious 
and  persevering."  When  his  head  was  not  at 
work,  his  hands  were.  Here,  for  example,  is  a 
large  and  beautiful  Powder-horn,  still  remaining, 


which  he  fashioned   during  one  of  his   college 
vacations.*     Mrs.  Lawrence,  when  a  girl  and  a 

*  It  is  now  in  possession  of  a  grandson  of  the  Mrs.  Lawrence 
mentioned  in  the  text,  William  Roderick  Lawrence  Esq.,  of  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut — who  received  it  from  his  father,  to  whom  it 


40  NATHAN    HALE. 

member  of  his  father's  family,  frequently  saw  him 
at  work  upon  it,  and  remembered  to  her  dying 
day  the  peculiar  concentrativeness  of  attention, 
and  the  zest  with  which  upon  this,  as  upon  every- 
thing else  in  the  way  of  construction  that  he 
undertook,  he  labored  to  bestow  shape  and  come- 
liness. 

He  used  to  say  that  he  "could  do  anything  but 
spin,"  as  he  laughed  with  the  girls  over  the  spin- 
ning-wheel at  Coventry. 

In  height  he  was  about  five  feet  and  ten  inches, 
and  was  exceedingly  well  proportioned.  His 
figure  was  elegant  and  commanding.  He  had  a 
full,  broad  chest,  full  face,  light  blue  eyes,  light 
rosy  complexion,  and  hair  of  a  medium  brown. 
The  elasticity  of  his  frame  is  well  attested  by 
feats  which  he  used  frequently  to  perform  in  New 
London.  He  not  only,  says  Colonel  Green,  would 
put  his  hand  upon  a  fence  high  as  his  head  and 
clear  it  easily  at  a  bound,  but  would  jump  from 

was  given  by  Deacon  Richard  Hale,  the  father  of  Nathan.  We 
are  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Lawrence  for  the  beautiful  delineation 
of  it  by  his  own  hands. 


NATHAN   HALE.  41 

the  bottom  of  one  empty  hogshead  over  and  down 
into  a  second,  and  from  the  bottom  of  the  second 
over  and  down  into  a  third,  and  from  the  third 
over  and  out,  like  a  cat.  "His  face,"  adds  Col. 
Green,  "was  full  of  intelligence  and  benevolence, 
of  good  sense  and  good  feeling." — "Every  new 
emotion,"  says  Mrs.  Poole,  "lighted  it  with  a  bril- 
liancy perceptible  to  even  common  observers." — 
"lie  had  marks  on  his  forehead,"  says  Asher 
Wright,  "so  that  every  body  would  know  him 
who  had  ever  seen  him,  having  once  had  powder 
flashed  in  his  face.  He  had  also  a  large  hair  mole 
on  his  neck,  just  where  the  knot  came.  In  his 
boyhood  his  companions  sometimes  twitted  him 
about  it,  saying  he  would  be  hanged." 

Thus,  genial  in  his  nature — of  refined  address — 
of  remarkable  personal  beauty — neat,  unusually 
so  both  in  his  habits  and  dress — serious  or  gay 
with  the  nature  of  the  occasion  or  subject — quick 
to  discern  and  to  relish  a  joke — of  a  disposition 
exceedingly  affectionate — constant  in  his  friend- 
ships— always  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand — it  is 

the  uniform  testimony  of  those  who  knew  him, 
4* 


42  NATHAN    HALE. 

that  no  person  more  than  Hale  was  the  idol  of  his 
acquaintances,  and  that  no  young  man  of  his  day 
commenced  life  under  more  flattering  auspices. 
His  school,  the  church,  society,  books,  and 
pleasure,  each  by  turns  received  his  attention — 
each  fitly — and  time  at  New  London  rolled  along 
with  him,  its  sands  noted  as  they  fell,  and  glitter- 
ing with  promise.* 


*  "  Possessing  genius,  taste,  and  ardor,"  says  Sparks  of  Hale, 
'•  he  became  distinguished  as  a  scholar ;  and,  endowed  in  an 
eminent  degree  with  those  graces  and  gifts  of  nature  which  add  a 
charm  to  youthful  excellence,  he  gained  universal  esteem  and  con- 
fidence. To  high  moral  worth  and  irreproachable  habits,  were 
joined  gentleness  of  manners,  an  ingenuous  disposition,  and  vigor 
of  understanding.  No  young  man  of  his  years  put  forth  a  fairer 
promise  of  future  usefulness  and  celebrity  ;  the  fortunes  of  none 
were  fostered  more  sincerely  by  the  generous  good  wishes  of  his 
associates,  or  the  hopes  and  encouraging  presages  of  his  superiors.'' 


CHAPTEK   II. 

The  Lexington  Alarm.  Hale  gives  up  his  school,  and  joins  the 
army  as  a  volunteer.  His  motives  in  doing  so.  Is  stationed  for 
awhile  at  New  London.  Leaves  for  Boston.  The  prospect 
before  him.  Joins  the  brigade  of  General  Sullivan.  His  life 
for  six  months  in  the  camp  around  Boston.  His  skill  in  military 
discipline — his  studies — his  amusements — with  extracts  from  his 
Diary. 

SUCH  was  Nathan  Hale — and  so  engaged,  when 
the  Lexington  Alarm,  April  nineteenth,  1775, 
summoned  the  country  to  arms.  Upon  the  arrival 
of  the  express  with  the  news  from  Boston,  the 
citizens  of  New  London  at  once  assembled  in 
town-meeting* — breathed  forth  in  speeches  and 
resolutions  their  spirit  of  patriotic  resistance — and 
determined  that  Captain  Coit's  Independent  Com- 
pany, the  only  uniformed  company  in  the  place, 

*  Hon.  Richard  Law,  District  Judge  of  Connecticut,  and  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Superior  Court,  in  the  chair. 


44  NATHAN     HALE. 

should  march  to  the  scene  of  hostilities  the  next 
morning.  Hale  was  among  the  speakers  on  this 
occasion.  "  I  was  struck,"  says  Captain  Richard 
Law,  of  New  London,  from  whom  the  fact  is  de- 
rived, "with  his  noble  demeanor,  and  the  empha- 
sis with  which  he  addressed  the  assembly." — "Let 
us  march  immediately"  said  he,  "and  never  lay  down 
our  arms  until  voe  obtain  our  independence  !  "*  And 

*  Capt.  Richard  Law,  afterwards  in  the  naval  service  of  the 
Revolution,  was  at  this  time  a  pupil  of  Hale — and  attracted  by  the 
extraordinary  bustle  in  the  town — "  partaking,"  as  in  his  testimony 
now  before  us  he  says,  "  of  the  general  excitement  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Express,"  he  accompanied  his  father,  the  Judge,  to  the 
Meeting — which  was  held,  according  to  his  belief,  "  in  Miner's 
tavern — in  the  evening '' — and  was  "  numerously  attended."  So 
unfamiliar  at  this  time  to  his  youthful  ears — as  in  fact  also  to  the 
ear  of  the  country  at  large — was  the  word  Independence,  in  its 
application  to  the  relations  between  England  and  her  American 
Colonies — and  so  profoundly  impressed  was  he  by  the  eloquent 
stress  with  which  Hale  uttered  it,  in  the  connection  above  stated  in 
the  text — that,  seizing  the  first  moment  he  could,  he  most  earnestly 
inquired  of  his  father  what  it  meant .' — Brave,  ardent,  and  patri- 
otic, he  entered  the  naval  service  of  his  country  at  the  early  age 
of  fifteen,  and  was  a  midshipman  on  board  the  frigate  Trumbull  in 
her  desperate  and  most  remarkable  action,  June  2d,  1780,  with  the 


NATHAN     HALE.  45 

enrolling  at  once  as  a  volunteer,  he  assembled  his 
school  the  next  morning — made  his  pupils  an 
affectionate  address — "  gave  them  earnest  counsel 
—prayed  with  them — and  shaking  each  by  the 
hand,"  took  his  leave. 

It  is  probable  that  he  soon  returned  to  New 
London — but  only  to  discharge  his  duties  in  the 
school  temporarily,  until  he  could  arrange  for  a 
permanent  connection  with  the  army.  This  con- 
nection would  interrupt  his  father's  cherished  pro- 
ject of  educating  him  for  the  ministry.  He  wrote, 
therefore,  to  his  parent — stated  that  "a  sense  of 
duty  urged  him  to  sacrifice  everything  for  his 
country" — and  promised,  soon  as  the  war  was 
ended,  to  comply  with  his  wishes  in  regard  to  a 
profession.  The  old  gentleman  was  eminently 
patriotic.  Many  a  time  thereafter,  during  the  war, 
did  he  forbid  his  family  to  use  the  wool  raised 
upon  his  farm,  that  it  might  be  woven  into  blankets 

British  letter-of-marque  Watt.  He  was  the  third  Collector  of  the 
port  of  New  London,  which  office  he  held  for  eight  years.  He 
died  Dec.  19th,  1845 — the  last  survivor  of  the  crew  of  the 
Trumbull. 


46  NATHAN     HALE. 

for  the  army.  Many  a  time  did  he  sit  upon 
his  'stoop,'  and  watch  for  weary  soldiers  as  they 
passed  his  house,  that  he  might  take  them  within, 
and  if  necessary,  feed,  and  clothe,  and  lodge  them. 
He  assented  readily  to  his  son's  design,  and  July 
sixth,  Hale  enlisted  as  Lieutenant  in  the  third 
company  of  the  seventh  Connecticut  regiment 
commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  "Webb.*  On  the 
succeeding  morning  he  addressed  to  the  Proprie- 
tors of  the  Union  School  the  following  note : 

"  Gentlemen.  Having  received  information  that 
a  place  is  allotted  me  in  the  army,  and  being  in- 
clined, as  I  hope,  for  good  reasons,  to  accept  it,  I 
am  constrained  to  ask  as  a  favor  that  which  scarce 
anything  else  would  have  induced  me  to,  which  is, 
to  be  excused  from  keeping  your  school  any  longer. 
For  the  purpose  of  conversing  upon  this,  and  of 
procuring  another  master,  some  of  your  number 
think  it  best  there  should  be  a  general  meeting  of 
the  proprietors.  The  time  talked  of  for  holding 
it  is  6  o'clock  this  afternoon,  at  the  school-house. 
The  year  for  which  I  engaged  will  expire  within 


*  Of  Stamford,  Connecticut. 


NATHAN     HALE.  47 

a  fortnight,  so  that  my  quitting  a  few  days  sooner, 
I  hope,  will  subject  you  to  no  great  incon- 
venience. 

"  School  keeping  is  a  business  of  which  I  was 
always  fond,  but  since  my  residence  in  this  town, 
everything  has  conspired  to  render  it  more  agree- 
able. I  have  thought  much  of  never  quitting  it 
but  with  life,  but  at  present  there  seems  an  oppor- 
tunity for  more  extended  public  service. 

"  The  kindness  expressed  to  me  by  the  people 
of  the  place,  but  especially  the  proprietors  of  the 
school,  will  always  be  very  gratefully  remembered 
by,  gentlemen,  with  respect,  your  humble  servant. 

NATHAN  HALE. 

"Friday,  July  7,  1775.  To  John  Winthrop 
Esq.,  Richard  Law  Esq.,  &c.,  &c". 

The  simple  modesty  and  sincerity  with  which 
Hale  speaks  of  himself,  and  his  purpose,  in  the 
preceding  letter,  are  worthy  of  remark.  No  bursts 
of  patriotic  sentiment — no  vision  of  plumes  and 
epaulettes — no  self-satisfied  allusion  to  that  brave 
kinsman  of  his  own,  whose  name  he  bore  in  full, 
and  who,  in  the  battle  band  of  the  old  French 


48  N  A  T  HAN     HALE. 

War,  gallantly  gave  his  life  before  the  bastions  of 
Louisburgh* — not  even  one  little  bravado  about 
himself,  his  own  motives,  or  his  country — though 
these  might  all  have  been  pardoned  to  an  ardent, 
ambitious  youth  of  twenty-one  summers.  But 
"  being  inclined  for  good  reasons,"  as  he  hopes,  to 
accept  a  place  allotted  him  in  the  army — perceiv- 
ing an  opportunity,  as  it  seems  to  him,  "  for  more 
extended  public  service  " — he  asks  to  be  excused 
from  "  keeping  school  any  longer."  Were  all  soli- 
citations modestly  preferred  as  this  of  Hale's — 
were  all  the  paths  of  military  glory  entered  upon 
in  a  manner  as  unassuming,  and  with  motives  as 
sincere,  as  those  which  actuate  the  youthful  hero 
we  commemorate,  now  as  he  asks  to  step  out  on 
the  bloody  platform  of  the  American  Revolution 
— what  a  world  of  grandiloquent  tongues  would 
be  hushed  to  repose,  and  how  surely  those  wars 


*Tliis  kinsman,  named  Nathan  Hale,  says  the  American  His- 
torical Magazine  for  February,  1836,  "was  slain  by  the  bursting 
of  a  cannon  at  the  capture  of  Louisburgh,  in  the  '  old  French  war,' 
as  it  is  called  by  aged  people.  He  is  noted  in  the  account  of  the 
battle,  as  a  gallant  officer  in  the  Connecticut  Line." 


N  A  T  H  A  N     H  A  L  E  .  49 

only  would  occur  which  league  the  soldier  with 
law,  liberty,  and  truth ! 

The  ccTmpany  to  which  Hale  was  attached,  was 
under  the  immediate  command  of  Major  John 
Latimer.  It  constituted  part  of  a  regiment  which 
was  raised  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  in 
1775,  both  for  home  defence,  and  for  the  protection 
of  the  country  at  large — and,  until  placed  under 
the  General  in  chief  of  the  Continental  Army,  re- 
mained subject  to  the  orders  of  the  Connecticut 
Council  of  Safety.  Here  now — of  interest  to  be 
inserted  in  this  place — are  the  names  of  its  mem- 
bers when  Hale  first  took  charge  of  it — as  appears 
from  a  Pay  Eoll  at  present  in  the  office  of  the 
Comptroller  of  State  at  Hartford. 

John  Latimer,  Major. 

NATHAN  HALE,  Capt.  after  1st  Sept.  till  then  Lieut. 

John  Belcher,  Lieutenant. 

Joseph  Hilliard,  Lieutenant. 

Joseph  Hillard,  Lieutenant  after  1st  September. 

Alpheus  Chapman,  Ensign  after 

George  Hurlburt,  Serjeant. 

Joseph  Page, 

Reuben  Hewitt, 
5 


50 


NATHAN     HALE 


Ezra  Bushnell,  Serjeant. 

Stephen  Prentice,  Corporal  till  Sept.  1st,  then  Sergeant. 

Joshua  Raymond,      Corporal. 

Abraham  Avery, 

Henry  Hillard, 

Zo bull m  Cheeseborough,  " 

Rammerton  Sears,  Drummer. 

Robert  Latimore,      Fifer. 

Robert  Latimore,  Jr.,  " 
William  Bacon, 
Christopher  Beebe, 
Amos  Butler, 
Richard  Booge, 
Charles  Brown, 
Jonathan  Bowers, 
Asa  Baldwine, 
Gay  Beckwith, 
William  Carver, 
James  Comstock, 
Benjamin  Comstock,  Jun., 
Simeon  Cobb, 
Fairbanks  Church, 
John  Chappell, 
Benjamin  Cheeseborough, 


Caleb  Couts, 
Reuben  Sheamks, 
George  Chunks, 


Isaac  Hammon, 
William  Hatch, 
Samuel  Hix, 
Peter  Holt, 
Thomas  Hicox, 
Elisha  Hancock, 
Elisha  Johnson, 
Joseph  Lovatt, 
David  McDowell, 
Abel  Minard, 
Jabez  Minard, 
Lawrence  Martin, 
Enos  Nero, 
Jared  Stephens, 
Daniel  Talbott, 
Amos  Shaw, 
Sias  Pawhig, 
John  Patton, 


NATHAN     HALE.  51 

Peter  Cheeseborough,  Christopher  Woodbridge, 

Edward  Clark,  James  Ward, 

James  Dennis,  Samuel  Woodkind, 

John  Dean,  Ichabod  Young, 

John  Dennis,  John  Holmes, 

Christopher  Dean,  Joseph  Brown, 

Enos  Greenfield,  Joseph  Peters, 

David  Hilhouse,  Jeremiah  Dodge, 

George  Hakes,  David  Baldwine.* 

August  third,  Hale's  Company,  together  -with 
that  of  Captain  Shipman,  was  stationed,  by  order 
of  the  Council,  at  New  London,  where  danger  was 
apprehended  from  British  men  of  war  then  hover- 
ing on  the  adjacent  coasts. 

August  seventeenth,  its  commander  received 
orders  from  the  Council  to  "keep  regular  watches 

*  Of  the  above  Company,  seventy-one,  including  the  officers, 
enlisted  in  July,  and  three  in  August.  Three  died  before  the  third 
day  of  December,  1775,  viz.,  Corporal  Stephen  Prentice,  Novem- 
ber twenty-second — William  Hatch,  November  twenty-seventh — 
and  Jonathan  Bowers,  December  second.  Hale's  company,  when 
at  New  York,  was  augmented  to  ninety  men — its  full  complement. 
Of  those  who  first  engaged  under  him,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  Asher  Wright,  "  several  were  from  Windham,  New  London, 
New  Haven,  and  some  from  Long  Island." 


52  NATHAN     HALE. 

and  guards  about  his  camp,  and  see  that  his  sold- 
iers were  properly  exercised,  instructed,  and  kept 
clean,  and  free  from  idleness  and  bad  practices." 

September  fourth,  the  Company  was  ordered  by 
the  Council,  with  other  troops,  "to  make  such 
intrenchments  and  works  of  defence  as  should  be 
directed  by  the  civil  authority  and  field  officers  " 
in  New  London. 

September  fourteenth,  in  consequence  of  a  letter 
from  General  Washington  "  requiring  perempto- 
rily "  that  all  the  troops  last  raised  in  Connecticut 
should  be  sent  to  him,  Major  Latimer's  Company, 
with  other  troops,  was  "  immediately  ordered  to 
march  to  the  camp  near  Boston." 

September  twenty-fourth,  at  Rehoboth,  Massa- 
chusetts, one  Eliphalet  Slack  signs  a  receipt  writ- 
ten by  Sale's  own  hand,  and  in  Sale's  own  Camp- 
Book,  for  five  shillings  and  tenpence  lawful  money 
for  the  use  of  his  house  by  Major  Latimer's 
Company. 

Hale  then  has  been  for  two  months  and  a  half 
attached  to  the  army — has  been  for  about  fifty 
days  stationed  with  his  Company  at  New  London, 


XATHANHALE.  53 

and  is  now,  September  twenty-fourth,  in  full  march 
for  the  "X)amp  at  Boston." 

He  has  had  a  brief  experience  of  military  drill, 
and  watches,  and  intrenchments.  He  has  ex- 
changed the  comfortable  sleeping  chamber  for  the 
tent — the  schoolmaster's  satchel  for  the  knapsack 
— the  dishes  of  the  quiet  house  table  for  the  iron 
pot,  tin  pail,  quart  runlet,  and  wooden  bowl  of  the 
camp — the  unstinted  fare  of  domestic  life  for  the 
soldier's  measured  pound  of  beef,  or  bit  of  pork 
and  pound  of  flour — and  a  salary  of  seventy 
pounds  a  year  and  six  shillings  a  quarter  addi- 
tional for  teaching  girls,  for  forty-eight  pounds  a 
year  wages  as  Lieutenant,  fifty-two  shillings  of 
enlistment  bounty,  and  "  sixpence  a  day  as  billet- 
ing money  until  provided  for  by  the  Colony  stores." 
He  is  a  soldier  of  the  Continental  Line!  A  usurp- 
ing king,  thousands  of  miles  away,  was  threaten- 
ing to  clutch  the  hard  earnings  of  three  millions 
of  Colonists,  who  worshipped  God,  toiled  with 
honesty,  and  liked  some  liberty  to  think  and  act 
for  themselves,  and  gather  a  little  treasure  for  their 

old  age,  and  for  their  biers — and  Hale  was  bent 
5* 


54  N  A  T  H  A  X     H  ALE. 

on  struggling  for  this  liberty.  Thrice  already,  for 
the  same  glorious  purpose — destined  in  its  career 
of  accomplishment  to  splinter  thrones  and  rock 
the  world — thrice  had  his  countrymen  met  the 
shock  of  battle,  and  poured  their  blood — at  Lex- 
ington— Concord — and  when  they  made 

"  That  silent,  moonlight  march  to  Bunker  Hill, 

With  spades,  and  swords,  bold  hearts  and  ready  hands — 
That  Spartan  step  without  their  flutes !  " 

Hale  knew  well  these  themes.  An  intelligent 
student  of  his  country's  history,  he  was  familiar 
with  its  '  traces  of  blood  and  prayer '  from  Plym- 
outh down  to  Bunker  Hill.  A  patriot,  he  felt 

"  the  thrill 

That  thoughts  of  well-loved  homes,  and  streams,  and  lands 
Awaken — " 

and  he  is  "going  into  -the  fight! " 

September  twenty-eighth,  he  reached  his  station 
at  the  foot  of  Winter  Hill  near  M edford,  where  he 
remained  steadily  encamped,  in  the  brigade  of 
General  Sullivan,  till  the  twenty-third  of  Decem- 


NATHAN     HALE.  55 

ber  succeeding,  on  which  day  he  started  on  foot 

^ 
with  Lieutenant  Sage,  through  snow  '  ancle  deep,' 

on  a  visit  to  his  friends  in  Connecticut.  January 
twenty-seventh,  he  returned  to  camp,  having  in 
the  interim,  January  first,  1776,  received  a  commis- 
sion from  Congress  appointing  him  Captain  in  the 
nineteenth  Eegiment  of  Foot  commanded  by 
Colonel  Charles  Webb.*  January  thirtieth,  he 
removed  from  Winter  Hill  to  Eoxbury,  and  was 
attached  to  the  brigade  of  General  Spencer,  where 
he  remained  until  the  April  succeeding,  when  with 
the  troops  under  General  Heath,  he  removed,  by 
way  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  to  New  York. 


*  It  is  probable  that  on  his  visit  to  Connecticut  he  went  to  New 
Haven — since  that  Officer  of  the  medical  staff  in  the  army  quoted 
on  page  eighteen  of  this  volume,  thus  pleasantly  testifies  respecting 
him  :  "  Hale  remarked  to  my  father,  that  he  was  offered  a  com- 
mission in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  exclaimed,  'Dulce  et  de- 
corum est  pro  patria  moriS  These  were  some  of  the  last  expres- 
sions I  ever  heard  fall  from  his  lips.  The  remarks  of  my  father, 
after  Hale  left  the  house,  were,  '  That  man  is  a  diamond  of  the 
first  water,  calculated  to  excel  in  any  station  he  assumes.  He  is  a 
gentleman  and  a  scholar,  and  last,  though  not  least  of  his  qualifi- 
cations, a  Christian  !  " 


56  NATHAXHALE. 

His  history  during  this  period  of  about  six 
months,  from  the  last  of  September  1775,  to  April 
1776,  in  the  '  Camp  around  Boston,'  is  marked  by 
no  highly  conspicuous  event.  We  have  no  mili- 
tary successes,  of  dazzling  splendor,  in  which  he 
acted  a  part,  to  record.  The  American  army,  as 
is  well  known,  during  this  time  was  not  drawn 
out  in  battle  array.  There  was  no  combination 
of  hosts  upon  the  field.  All  was  siege  and  coun- 
terplot— one  army  in  a  city,  shut  in  from  every 
direction  but  the  sea,  another  around  that  city 
building  intrenchments,  mounting  batteries,  and 
striving  by  means  of  storming  parties,  by  distant 
cannonading,  and  by  straitening  supplies,  to  drive 
off  the  invader. 

Hale's  post,  however,  was  one  frequently  of 
much  peril,  and  his  labors  at  times  were  very 
arduous.  "  I  see  you  are  stationed,"  writes  one  of 
his  friends*  to  him,  October  ninth,  "  in  the  mouth 

*  Gilbert  Saltonstall — a  grandson  of  Gov.  Gurdon  Saltonstall  of 
Connecticut — a  graduate  in  1770,  of  Harvard  College — aud  a  pat- 
riot of  high  intelligence,  ardor  and  virtue.  He  became  a  Cap- 
tain of  Marines  in  the  service  of  liis  country,  and  in  this  capacity 


NATHAN    HALE.  57 

of  danger.  I  look  upon  your  situation  as  more 
perilous  than  any  other  in  the  camp."  The  ene- 
my were  constantly  making  sorties — and  in  the 
direction,  particularly,  in  which  Hale  was  encamp- 
ed— for  cattle,  for  provisions,  and  to  weaken  the 
American  lines.  They  hurled  shot  and  shells  al- 
most daily — from  the  Boston  Common,  from 
Copp's  Hill,  from  Bunker's  Hill,  and  from  their 
floating  batteries — upon  the  American  force.  The 
strictest  watch  was  therefore  necessary  against 
surprise,  and  in  this  duty  Hale  participated  ac- 
tively. "  Mounted  picket  guard — mounted  main 
guard — slept  little  or  none" — such  are  frequent 
entries  in  a  Diary  which  he  kept  during  most  of 
this  period,  and  which  is  fortunately  preserved.* 

served  in  the  famous  engagement  between  the  Trumbull  and  the 
Watt — in  which  he  was  wounded.  At  the  period  now  under  con- 
sideration, his  correspondence  with  Hale  was  particularly  active, 
well-informed,  and  genial.  He  kept  Hale  accurately  acquainted 
with  everything  of  importance  that  transpired  in  New  London, 
whether  civil,  military,  or  social — and  communicated  much  also 
respecting  public  affairs  in  Connecticut,  and  elsewhere  North  and 
South  of  this  State.  How  do  we  miss  here  Hale's  replies  ! 

*We  give  it  entire  in  the  Appendix  to  this  Volume.    See  App.  G. 


58  NATHAN    HALE. 

In  charge  often  of  an  advance  station,  he  was 
sometimes  so  near  the  enemy  that  he  could  hear 
them  at  work  with  their  pickaxes,  and  his  men 
could  distinguish  their  countersign*  as  it  echoed 
from  their  Grand  Rounds  faintly  through  the  mid- 
night. Once,  probably,  exposed  to  a  hot  fire 
from  a  ship  in  the  bay  and  a  floating  battery,  he 
marched  down  to  repulse  the  British  from  a  land- 
ing at  Lechmere's  Point.  The  following  is  his 
own  account  of  the  affair,  November  ninth, 
Thursday. 

"  1  o'cl.  P.  M.  An  alarm.  The  Regulars  land- 
ed at  Lechmere's  Point,  to  take  off  cattle.  Our 
works  were  immediately  all  manned,  and  a  de- 
tachment sent  to  receive  them,  who  were  obliged, 
it  being  high  water,  to  wade  through  water  near 
waist  high.  While  the  enemy  were  landing,  we 
gave  them  a  constant  cannonade  from  Prospect 
Hill.  Our  party  having  got  on  to  the  point, 
marched  in  two  columns,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
hill,  with  a  view  to  surround  the  enemy,  but  upon 
the  first  appearance  of  them,  they  made  their  boats 

*  e.  g.  "  Hamilton.'1 


NATHAN    HALE.  59 

as  fast  as  possible.  While  our  men  were  march- 
ing on  to  the  point,  they  were  exposed  to  a  hot 
fire  from  a  ship  in  the  bay  and  a  floating  battery 
— also  after  they  had  passed  the  Hill.  A  few 
shot  were  fired  from  Bunker's  Hill.  The  dam- 
age on  our  side  is  the  loss  of  one  rifleman  taken, 
and  3  men  wounded,  one  badly,  and  it  is  thought 
10  or  more  cattle  carried  off.  The  Eifleman  taken 
was  drunk  in  a  tent,  in  which  he  and  the  one  who 
received  the  worst  wound  were  placed  to  take 
care  of  the  cattle,  horses  &c.,  and  give  notice  in 
case  the  enemy  should  make  an  attempt  upon 
them.  The  tent  they  were  in  was  taken.  What 
the  loss  was  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  we  cannot 
yet  determine." 

With  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  affair  just 
narrated — and  during  the  erection  by  his  com- 
pany, the  succeeding  spring,  of  a  breastwork  in 
Dorchester,  in  a  situation  very  much  exposed  to 
British  balls — and  once  also  in  a  trip  to  one  of 
the  islands  in  Boston  harbor  to  carry  off  stock — 
Hale  does  not  seem  to  have  been  thrown,  during 
his  stay  around  Boston,  into  any  particular  col- 


60  NATHAN    HALE. 

lision  with  the  enemy.  Yet  he  had  opportunities 
to  distinguish  himself,  and  did  so,  in  other  ways  ; 
and  particularly  in  the  care  he  took  to  prepare 
his  men,  by  careful  discipline  within  the  camp, 
for  the  onsets  of  the  battle  field — a  duty  urgently 
demanded  in  an  army  raw  and  restless  under 
restraint  as  the  American  army  was  when  first 
collected. 

"  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance,"  he  enters  in 
his  Diary,  November  sixth,  "  that  an  officer  should 
be  anxious  to  know  his  duty,  but  of  greater  that 
he  should  carefully  perform  what  he  does  know. 
The  present  irregular  state  of  the  army  is  owing 
to  a  capital  neglect  in  both  of  these  [points.]" — 
"  Studied,"  he  enters  November  seventh,  "  the 
method  of  forming  a  regiment  for  a  review,  [the] 
manner  of  arraying  the  companies,  also  of  march- 
ing round  the  reviewing  officers  "  — and  he  pro- 
ceeds to  write  down  carefully  and  at  length 
minute  directions,  from  the  General  Orders,  for 
the  guards.  The  knowledge  of  the  military 
art  which  it  is  thus  obvious  Hale  took  pains  to 
secure,  he  was  able  to  apply  in  a  manner  highly 


X  A  T  H  A  X     H  A  L  E .  61 

conducive  to  the  public  good.  His  own  company, 
from  the  skill  and  taste  with  which  he  managed 
it,  soon  became  a  model  for  others,  particularly  in 
the  adoption  of  a  simple  uniform — an  example 
which  was  noticed  with  applause  by  officers  and 
companies  generally,  and  which  was  extensively 
followed.* 

"When  in  November,  1775,  the  army  was  threat- 
ened with  dissolution  by  the  expiration  of  enlist- 
ments, Hale  rendered  conspicuous  sendee.  He 
cheered  General  Lee,  and  other  officers,  when 
sadly  cast  down  by  the  prospect,  and  going  around 
in  person  to  the  men,  urged  them,  by  every  pat- 
riotic consideration  which  he  could  address,  to 
remain  and  fight  the  battles  of  their  country — 
and  not  content  with  this,  in  the  case  of  his  own 
company,  promising  them  his  own  wages  if  they 
would  tarry  for  a  given  period,  nobly  and  promptly 

*  Hale  drew  up  a  set  of  instructions  for  his  company — regula- 
ting their  carriage  and  demeanor  as  well  off  as  when  on  duty — 
which  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  each  one  under  his  command.  A 
part  of  fhese  instructions  we  have  seen  in  his  own  handwriting — 
on  a  paper  now  much  mutilated. 
6 


62  NATHAN    HALE. 

redeemed  his  pledge  by  borrowing  the  money  of 
a  brother  officer  on  the  credit  of  his  own  advance 
pay.  Here  is  an  entry  which  he  made  of  the  fact, 
in  part,  Tuesday,  November  twenty-eighth,  1775, 
in  his  Diary* — which  we  give,  with  his  name 
appended,  to  serve  also  as  a/ac  simile  of  his  hand- 
writing. 

JX 
-^•x-fcs^   -e^ 

r"^y  ^^^ 


^^^y^-t^ 


When  Congress  had  decided  upon  a  new  estab- 


*  See  also  his  entry  December  twenty-third. 

t"  A  fair,  legible,  manly  hand" — says  a  manuscript  before  us, 
speaking  generally  of  Hale's  handwriting — "  strikingly  character- 
istic of  the  mind'  of  the  man."  The  signature  is  "  one  of  those 
large,  distinct,  square  signatures  of  olden  times,  on  which  the  eye 
dwells  without  pain,  as  upon  the  largest  print,  and  of  which  so 
many  fine  specimens  are  found  at  the  foot  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence." 


NATHAN    HALE.  63 

lishment,  Hale  was  one  of  ten  officers,  who  upon 
the  first  offer  of  a  paper  for  the  purpose,  put  down 
their  names  for  new  commissions,  and  both  in 
camp,  and  in  that  journey  home  to  which  refer- 
ence has  already  been  made,  he  labored  assidu- 
ously to  procure  recruits.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
soldiers,  particularly  of  his  own  company,  were 
exceedingly  attached  to  him.  He  had  charge  of 
their  clothing,  their  rations,  their  wages.  Many 
are  the  entries  in  his  Camp-Book  of  his  trips  from 
Winter  Hill  to  Cambridge,  or  Mystic,  for  money 
and  continental  stores,  and  he  notes  "ill  usage 
upon  the  score  of  provisions"  as  the  chief  reason 
why  the  soldiers  generally,  November  twenty- 
third,  would  not  extend  their  term  of  service. 

When  off  duty,  Hale  devoted  much  tune  to 
reading  and  reflection,  to  history,  works  of  taste, 
and  to  the  newspapers  and  bulletins  of  the  day. 
A  history  of  Philip,  and  work  of  Young's,  as 
well  as  works  on  the  military  art,  are  particularly 
noted  in  his  Diary.  A  poet  of  the  day,  Timothy 
D  wight  Junior,  availed  himself  of  the  young  offi- 
cer's literary  taste,  as  well  as  of  his  '  politeness 


64  .        NATHANHALE. 

and  benevolence,'  to  procure  subscriptions  for  his 
poem  within  the  circle  of  Hale's  acquaintance  in 
camp. 

Hale  maintained  also  during  this  period  of  his 
life  an  active  correspondence.  He  was  thus  well 
informed  of  important  events  that  transpired  else- 
where, all  of  which,  as  the  taking  of  St.  John's, 
the  expedition  of  Arnold,  the  capture  of  prizes 
by  American  privateers,  the  menaces  coastwise  of 
the  British  fleet,  he  enters  in  his  Diary ;  and  there 
are  many  proofs  in  letters  addressed  to  him,  at  the 
time,*  of  a  careful  and  affectionate  interest  in  his 
welfare  among  a  large  circle  of  friends  of  both 
sexes.  In  these  the  ladies  are  sure  to  send  him 
their  love,  undisguised  half  the  time  by  the  cold 
phrase  of  '  compliments,'  and  hope  he  will  "  send 
them  a  line."  His  male  friends  seem  to  long  for 
his  presence  again.  The  sergeants  of  his  own 
company,  subscribing  themselves  his  'good  old 
friends, 'f  regret  services  which  detach  them  from 


*  Quite  a  number  of  these,  fortunately,  are  preserved. 
t  e.  g.  George  Hurlburt,  one  of  Hale's  sergeants — who  seems  to 
have  been  a  very  active  and  trustworthy  officer,  and  most  warmly 


NATHAN     HALE.  65 

his  society.  "*  Some  sergeants  of  other  companies 
write  to  ask  '  births '  in  the  army  under  him* — and 
even  among  the  boys,  his  former  pupils  at  New 
London,  there  are  those  who  assure  him  that,  if 
their  'mothers  would  but  consent,'  they  would 
prefer  being  with  him  to  "all  the  pleasures  which 
the  company  of  their  relatives  can  afford."f 

Camp  life  has  its  amusements  too,  as  well  as  its 
'dreadful  notes  of  preparation.'     Peaceful  games 


attached  to  Hale.  While  the  latter  was  on  his  visit  to  Connecticut, 
Hurlburt  wrote  him  almost  daily,  giving  him  a  minute  account  of 
the  state  of  his  company,  and  yearning  for  his  return.  "  I  hope 
the  next  time  I  see  you,"  he  added  in  one  of  his  epistles — panting 
to  dislodge  the  enemy  from  the  metropolis  of  New  England — "  it 
will  be  in  Boston,  drinking  a  glass  of  wine  with  me.  If  we  can 
but  have  a  bridge,  we  shall  make  a  rush  to  try  our  courage .'  " 

*  e.    g.     Thomas    Updike   Fosdick,   sergeant   in   Saltonstall's 
company,  then  stationed  at  New  London. 

t  e.  g.  Robert  Latimer,  in  a  letter  dated  New  London,  Decem- 
ber twentieth,  1775 — who  adds,  that  he  should  think  himself 
"  very  ungrateful  "  if  he  failed  to  express  "  the  greatest  obligations 
to  Hale  for  the  care,  and  kindness,  and  goodness  "  he  has  "  so 
often  experienced  "  from  him  as  his  instructor — and  deprecates  any 
criticism  of  his  epistolary  composition  from  one  of  such  "  nice  dis- 
cernment" as  his  former  master. 
6* 


66  NATHAN     HALE. 

of  chance  and  strength  succeed  at  intervals  the 
sounds  of  '  armorers  accomplishing  the  knights,' 
and  'busy  hammers  closing  rivets  up,'  and  occupy, 
with  advantage  to  the  soldier,  seasons  otherwise  of 
inactivity.  In  these  Hale  at  times  participated  at 
the  period  now  under  consideration,  as  the  follow- 
ing, his  own  entries,  show : 

"  Oct.  24  Winter  Hill  came  down  to  wrestle, 
with  a  view  to  find  our  best  for  a  wrestling  match 
to  which  this  hill  was  stumped  by  Prospect,  to  be 
decided  on  Thursday  ensuing.  Evening  prayers 
omitted  for  wrestling. 

"Oct.  26.  Grand  wrestling  match — no  wager 
laid. 

"  Nov.  6.  Day  chiefly  spent  in  jabber  and 
checkers. 

"  Nov.  7.  Rain  pretty  hard  most  of  the  day — 
spent  most  of  it  in  the  Major's,  my  own  and  other 
tents  in  conversation — (some  checkers.) 

"  Nov.  8.  Cleaned  my  gun — played  some  foot- 
ball and  some  checkers." 

At  other  times  of  leisure,  Hale  occupied  himself 
in  walks  and  rides — often  to  Mystic,  to  dine  with 


NATHAN     HALE.  67 

his  friend  Colonel  Hall,  or  to  visit  his  laundress 
for  clothes,  or  "to  get  brick  and  clay  for  [his] 
chimney  "  at  Winter  Hill — sometimes  to  view  the 
works  around  Boston,  at  Cobble  Hill,  Eoxbury, 
and  elsewhere — and  sometimes  "down  to  Dorches- 
ter with  a  view  to  go  on  upon  the  point."  He 
often  called  upon  his  brother  officers  at  Prospect 
Hill,  and  was  to  them  especially  attentive,  when, 
as  in  the  case  of  Major  Brooks  and  Captain  Hull, 
they  were  confined  by  sickness.  He  was  the  fre- 

• 

quent  guest  of  General  Putnam  at  Cambridge — 
dining  with  him  often  at  his  quarters — and  stroll- 
ing there  to  introduce  his  friends  from  Connecti- 
cut, as  they  happened  to  visit  him  in  camp.  Fre- 
quently also  at  the  quarters  of  General  Sullivan, 
General  Lee,  and  General  Spencer,  he  seems  to 
have  been  an  especial  favorite  with  these  officers. 
They  read  to  him  at  times  their  private  advices 
from  Congress,  and  consulted  with  him  in  much 
confidence  about  the  administration  of  the  army. 
In  the  midst  of  all  this  occupation,  military  and 
social,  Hale  never  forgot  his  duties  of  a  religious 
nature.  "  Captain  Hale  was  a  praying  man,"  says 


68  NATHAN     HALE. 

Asher  Wright.*  The  services  of  Sunday,  when 
performed  in  camp,  he  attended  with  great  regu- 
larity, as  the  entries  in  his  Diary  show,  of  which 
the  following  are  specimens : 

"  Sab.  Oct.  29th.  Went  to  meeting  in  the  barn 
— one  exercise. 

"  Sunday,  [Nov.]  5th,  A.  M.  Mr.  Learned  pr. 
John,  13.  19.  excellentissime. 

"  Sabbath  Day,  19th.  Mr.  Bird  pr. — one  service 
— only  beginning  after  12  o'cl.  Text  Esther  8th, 
6.  For  how  can  Tendure  to  see  the  evil  that  shall 
come  upon  my  people,  or  how  can  I  endure  to  see 
the  destruction  of  my  kindred?  The  discourse 
very  good — the  same  as  preached  to  Gen.  Wooster, 
his  officers  and  soldiers,  at  New  Haven,  and  which 


*  "  He  prayed  for  his  first  waiter,  when  he  was  sick  with  a  fever," 
continues  Wright.  "  This  waiter  was  from  New  London.  His 
father  came  after  him.  He  recovered  after  awhile,  but  when  he  was 
taken  down,  Captain  Hale  was  a  mind  I  should  take  his  place. 
And  I  did,  and  remained  with  him  till  he  went  on  to  Long  Island." 
— Wright  was  born  and  brought  up  in  Coventry,  but  a  few  rods 
distant  from  the  mansion  of  Hale's  father.  He  had,  therefore, 
known  Hale  well  from  his  boyhood  up,  and  his  affection  for  him, 
we  may  here  state,  was  unbounded. 


NATHAN     HALE.  69 

was  again  preached  at  Cambridge  a  Sabbath  or  two 
ago — now  preached  as  a  farewell  discourse. 
"  17th.  Sunday.     Went  to  Mistick  to  meeting." 
So  passed,  as  we  have  now  described,  the  first 
six  months  of  Hale's  life  in  the  Army  of  the  Rev- 
olution— without  opportunity  "to  speak  his  patri- 
otism in  the  thunders  of  victorious  battle  " — but 
in  careful  and  praiseworthy  discharge  of  all  his 
other  duties  as  an  officer,  a  man,  and  a  Christian. 


CHAPTEK   III. 

Hale  leaves  the  vicinity  of  Boston  for  New  York.  His  gallant 
capture  of  a  British  sloop  in  the  East  River.  His  station,  occu- 
pation, patriotism,  attachments,  and  characteristic  modesty, 
illustrated  by  letters  from  bis  own  pen. 

IN  April,  1776,  with,  the  troops  under  General 
Heath,  Hale  removed,  by  way  of  Norwich,  Con- 
necticut, to  New  York.* 

Of  the  period  which  follows,  down  to  that 
which  is  signalized  by  his  death — from  April 
1776  to  the  ensuing  September — we  have  but 
little  to  record — for  here  memorials  almost  fail  us. 
One  incident  however  occurred,  which  well  illus- 
trates the  energy  and  courage  of  his  nature. 

A  British  Sloop,  laden  with  supplies,  was 
anchored  in  the  East  Eiver  under  the  sixty-four 

*  "  Left  Dorchester  in  April,  and  went  to  New  York — took 
tents  at  Grand  Battery  near  New  York  till  September — latter 
part  of  September  went  to  Harlem.  Tettimony  of  Aaher  Wright. 


NATHAN     HALE.  71 

* 

guns  of  the  British  ship  of  war  Asia,  Captain 
Vandeput,  and  Hale  formed  the  bold  design  of 
capturing  the  vessel.  The  following  is  the  account 
of  the  affair  given  by  Asher  Wright,  Hale's  own 
confidential  camp-attendant,  to  the  late  Honorable 
Andrew  T.  Judson,  Judge  of  the  United  States 
Court  for  the  District  of  Connecticut. 

"At  the  hour  appointed,"  describes  Wright, 
"the  party  assembled,  and  crossed  the  river  in 
their  faithful  little  bark,  skimming  so  lightly  over 
the  water  as  to  excite  no  alarm  from  any  quarter. 
They  passed  cautiously  down  by  the  shore  to  a 
point  of  land  nearest  the  sloop,  where  they  ceased 
to  ply  the  oar,  and  waited  for  the  moon  to  sink 
below  the  horizon.  It  was  at  the  dead  hour  of 
the  night,  and  all  was  hushed  in  silence,  excepting 
only  the  watchman  on  the  quarter  deck  of  the 
Asia.  His  voice  came  in  the  breeze,  '  All  is  well,' 
when  Captain  Hale's  men  pulled  away  for  the 
sloop,  and  soon  found  themselves  along  side — and 
in  an  instant  more  she  was  boarded,  and  away  she 
came  with  Captain  Hale  at  the  helm,  and  the 
British  tars  in  the  hold !  When  she  struck  the 


72  NATHANHALE. 

wharf,  this  new  commander  and  his  American 
crew  were  received  with  three  cheers,  and  soon 
the  liberal  hand  of  Captain  Hale  distributed  the 
prize  goods  to  feed  the  hungry,  and  clothe  the 
naked  of  our  own  army."* 

Of  Hale's  station  and  occupation,  otherwise, 
during  the  period  now  in  question,  in  New  York, 
as  well  as  of  his  patriotism,  attachments,  and 
characteristic  modesty,  some  valuable  hints  are 
furnished  in  the  three  following  letters,  written 
by  him  in  May,  June,  and  August — the  last  a 
week  before  the  battle  of  Flatbush — and  addressed 
to  one  of  his  brothers.  Except  a  portion  of  the 
second,  which  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  statements 
of  the  first,  we  give  them  in  their  chronological  order. 

"  NEW  YORK,  May  30th,  1776. 
"DEAR  BROTHER. 

"  Your  favor  of  the  9th  of  May,  and  another 

*  To  this  incident  Hale's  correspondent,  E.  Marvin,  refers,  in  a 
letter  to  him  from  New  London,  dated  June  eleventh,  1776.  The 
following  is  the  passage :  "  Am  much  obliged  for  your  particular 
history  of  the  adventure  aboard  the  prize;  wish  you  would  ac- 
quaint me  with  every  incident  of  good  or  ill  fortune  which  befalls 
you  in  your  course  of  life.  The  whole  journal  I  hope  some  time 
or  other  to  peruse." 


NATHAN     HALE.  73 

10 

written  at  Norwich,  I  have  received — the  former 
yesterday.  You  complain  of  my  neglecting  you ; 
I  acknowledge  it  is  not  wholly  without  rea- 
son— at  the  same  time  I  am  conscious  to  have 
written  to  you  more  than  once  or  twice  within 
this  half  year.  Perhaps  my  letters  have  mis- 
carried. 

"  I  am  not  on  the  end  of  Long  Island,  but  in 
New  York,  encamped  about  one  mile  back  of  the 
city.  We  have  been  on  the  Island,  and  spent 
about  three  weeks  there,  but  since  returned.  As 
to  Brigades:  we  spent  part  of  the  "Winter  at 
Winter  Hill  in  Gen1  Sullivan's — thence  we  were 
removed  to  Roxbury,  and  annexed  to  Gen1  Spen- 
cer's— from  thence  we  came  to  New  York  in  Gen1 
Heath's ;  on  our  arrival  we  were  put  in  Gen1  Lord 
Sterling's;  here  we  continued  a  few  days,  and 
were,  returned  to  Gen1  Sullivan's;  on  his  being 
sent  to  the  Northward,  we  were  reverted  to  Lord 
Sterling's,  in  whose  Brigade  we  now  remain.  In 
the  first  detachment  to  the  Northward  under  Gen1 
Thomson,  Webb's  regiment  was  put  down;  but 

the  question  being  asked  whether  we  had  many 
7 


74  NATHAN     HALE. 

seamen,  and  the  reply  being  yes,  we  were  erased 
and  another  put  down  in  our  place. 

"  We  have  an  account  of  the  arrival  of  Troops 
at  Halifax,  thence  to  proceed  on  their  infamous 
errand  to  some  part  of  America. 

"Majr  Brooks  informed  me  last  evening,  that 
in  conversation  with  some  of  the  frequenters  at 
Head  Quarters,  he  was  told  that  Gen1  Washington 
had  received  a  packet  from  one  of  the  sheriffs  of 
the  city  of  London,  in  which  was  contained  the 
Debates  at  large  of  both  houses  of  Parliament — 
and  what  is  more,  the  whole  proceedings  of  the 
Cabinet.  The  plan  of  the  summer's  Campaign  in 
America  is  said  to  be  communicated  in  full. 
Nothing  has  yet  transpired ;  but  the  prudence  of 
our  Gen1  we  trust  will  make  advantage  of  the 
Intelligence.  Gen1  Gates  (formerly  Adj1  Gen1  now 
Majr  Gen1)  is  gone  to  Philadelphia,  probably  to 
communicate  the  above. 

"Some  late  accounts  from  the  northward  are 
very  unfavorable,  and  would  be  more  so  could 
they  be  depended  on.  It  is  reported  that  a  fleet 
has  arrived  in  the  River ;  upon  the  first  notice  of 


NATHANHALE.  75 

which  our  army  thought  it  prudent  to  break  up 
the  siege  and  retire — that  in  retreating  they  were 
attack'd  and  routed,  Numbers  kill'd,  the  sick, 
most  of  the  cannon  and  stores  taken.  The  account 
is  not  authentic :  We  hope  it  is  not  true. 

"  It  would  grieve  every  good  man  to  consider 
what  unnatural  monsters  we  have  as  it  were  in 
our  bowels.  Numbers  in  this  Colony,  and  like- 
wise in  the  western  part  of  Connecticut,  would  be 
glad  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  their  Country's 
Blood.  Facts  render  this  too  evident  to  admit  of 
dispute.  In  this  city  such  as  refuse  to  sign  the 
Association  have  been  required  to  deli ver  up  their 
arms.  Several  who  refused  to  comply  have  been 
sent  to  prison. 

"  It  is  really  a  critical  Period.  America  beholds 
what  she  never  did  before.  Allow  the  whole 
force  of  our  enemy  to  be  but  30,000,  and  these 
floating  on  the  Ocean,  ready  to  attack  the  most 
unguarded  place.  Are  they  not  a  formidable 
Foe  ?  Surely  they  are." 


76  NATHAN     HALE. 

"NEW  YORK,  June  3d,  1776. 
"  DEAR  BROTHER. 

.  "     *     *     *     Continuance  or  removal  from 
here  depends  wholly  upon  the  operations  of  the  War. 

"It  gives  pleasure  to  every  friend  of  his  coun- 
try to  observe  the  health  which  prevails  in  our 
army.  Dr.  Eli  (Surgeon  of  our  Reg')  told  me  a 
few  days  since,  there  was  not  a  man  in  our  Beg1 
but  might  upon  occasion  go  out  with  his  Firelock. 
Much  the  same  is  said  of  other  Regiments. 

"  The  army  is  every  day  improving  in  disci- 
pline, and  it  is  hoped  will  soon  be  able  to  meet 
the  enemy  at  any  kind  of  play.  My  company 
which  at  first  was  small,  is  now  increased  to 
eighty,  and  there  is  a  Sergeant  recruiting,  who,  I 
hope,  has  got  the  other  10  which  completes  the 
Company. 

"  We  are  hardly  able  to  judge  as  to  the  num- 
bers the  British  army  for  the  Summer  is  to  con- 
sist of — undoubtedly  sufficient  to  cause  us  too 
much  bloodshed. 

"  Gen1  Washing10"  is  at  the  Congress,  being  sent 
for  thither  to  advise  on  matters  of  consequence. 


NATHAN     HALE.  77 

"  I  had  written  you  a  complete  letter  in  answer 
to  your  last,  but  missed  the  opportunity  of  send- 
ing it. 

"  This  will  probably  find  you  in  Coventry — if 
so  remember  me  to  all  my  friends— particularly 
belonging  to  the  Family.  Forget  not  frequently 
to  visit  and  strongly  to  represent  my  duty  to  our 
good  Grandmother  Strong.  Has  she  not  repeat- 
edly favored  us  with  her  tender,  most  important 
advice?  The  natural  Tie  is  sufficient,  but  in- 
creased by  so  much  goodness,  our  gratitude  can- 
not be  too  sensible.  I  always  with  respect 
remember  Mr.  Huntington,  and  shall  write  to 
him  if  time  admits.  Pay  Mr.  Wright  a  visit  for 
me.  Tell  him  Asher  is  well — he  has  for  some 
time  lived  with  me  as  a  waiter.  I  am  in  hopes  of 
obtaining  him  a  Furlough  soon,  that  he  may  have 
opportunity  to  go  home,  see  his  friends,  and  get 
his  Summer  clothes. 

"  Asher  this  moment  told  me  that  our  Brother 
Joseph  Adams  was  here  yesterday  to  see  me, 
when  I  happened  to  be  out  of  the  way.  He  is  in 

Col.  Parson's  Beg1.     I  intend  to  see  him  to-day, 
7* 


78  NATHAN     HALE. 

and  if  possible  by  exchanging  get  him  into  my 
company. 

'  Yours  affectionately,  N.  HALE. 

"P.  S.  Sister  Rose  talked  of  making  me  some 
Linen  cloth  similar  to  Brown  Holland  for  Sum- 
mer wear.  If  she  has  made  it  desire  her  to  keep 
it  for  me.  My  love  to  her,  the  Doctor,  and  little 
Joseph." 

"NEW  YORK,  Aug.  20th,  1776. 
"  DEAR  BROTHER. 

"  I  have  only  time  for  a  hasty  letter.  Our 
situation  has  been  such  this  fortnight  or  more  as 
scarce  to  admit  of  writing.  We  have  daily 
expected  an  action — by  which  means,  if  any  one 
was  going,  and  we  had  letters  written,  orders  were 
so  strict  for  our  tarrying  in  camp  that  we  could 
rarely  get  leave  to  go  and  deliver  them.  For 
about  6  or  8  days  the  enemy  have  been  expected 
hourly,  whenever  the  wind  and  tide  in  the  least 
favored.  We  keep  a  particular  look  out  for  them 
this  morning.  The  place  and  manner  of  attack 
time  must  determine.  The  event  we  leave  to 
Heaven.  Thanks  to  God !  we  have  had  time  for 


NATHAN     HALE.  79 

completing  our  works  and  receiving  our  reinforce- 
ments. The  Militia  of  Connecticut  ordered  this 
way  are  mostly  arrived.  Col.  Ward's  Keg*  has 
got  in.  Troops  from  the  southward  are  daily 
coming.  We  hope  under  God,  to  give  a  good 
account  of  the  Enemy  whenever  they  choose  to 
make  the  last  appeal. 

"  Last  Friday  Night,  two  of  our  fire  vessels  (a 
Sloop  and  Schooner)  made  an  attempt  upon  the 
shipping  up  the  River.  The  night  was  too  dark,  • 
the  wind  too  slack  for  the  attempt.  The  Schooner 
which  was  intended  for  one  of  the  Ships  had  got 
by  before  she  discovered  them ;  but  as  Providence 
would  have  it,  she  run  athwart  a  bomb-catch, 
which  she  quickly  burned.  The  Sloop  by  the 
light  of  the  former  discovered  the  Phoenix — but 
rather  too  late — however  she  made  shift  to  grap- 
ple her,  but  the  wind  not  proving  sufficient  to 
bring  her  close  along  side,  or  drive  the  flames 
immediately  on  board,  the  Phoenix  after  much 
difficulty  got  her  clear  by  cutting  her  own  rig- 
ging. Serg1  Fosdick,*  who  commanded  the  above 


*  Thomax   Updike   Fosdick,  of  New  London,  Connecticut — a 


80  NATHAN     HALE. 

sloop,  and  four  of  his  hands,  were  of  my  company, 
the  remaining  two  were  of  this  Reg1. 

"  The  Gen1  has  been  pleased  to  reward  their 
bravery  with  forty  dollars  each,  except  the  last 
man  who  quitted  the  fire  Sloop,  who  had  fifty. 
Those  on  board  the  Schooner  received  the  same. 

"I  must  write  to  some  of  my  other  brothers 
lest  you  should  not  be  at  home.     Remain 
"  Your  friend  and  Brother 

"  Mr.  Enoch  Hale,"  *  '  «  N.  HALE." 

Upon  the  day  succeeding  that  in  which  the 
letter  last  quoted  was  written,  Hale  began  again 
to  note  in  his  Diary — a  practice  which  for  some 
time  just  previous  he  had  omitted — and  the  fol- 
lowing, in  reference  to  the  chief  events  of  this  and 
the  two  succeeding  days,  are  the  last  brief  entries 
which  ever  flowed  from  his  pen. 

"Aug.  21st.     Heavy  Storm   at   Night.     Much 


warm  patriot,  and  a  seaman  of  great  skill.  While  a  boy,  he  was 
the  companion  of  the  celebrated  traveller  Ledyard,  on  his  first 
voyage.  He  died  in  1821,  aged  seventy-one  years. 

*  See  Appendix,  Hale  Genealogy,  No.  27,  for  a  notice  of  Enoch 
Hale. 


NATHAN     HALE.  81 

and  heavy  Thunder.  Capt.  Van  Wyke,  a  Lieut, 
and  Ens.  of  Col°  Mc.Dougall's  Keg1  kill'd  by  a 
Shock.  Likewise  one  man  in  town,  belonging  to 
a  Militia  Keg'  of  Connecticut.  The  Storm  con- 
tinued for  two  or  three  hours,  for  the  greatest  part 
of  which  time  [there]  was  a  perpetual  Lightning, 
and  the  sharpest  I  ever  knew. 

"22d  Thursday.  The  Enemy  landed  some 
troops  down  at  the  Narrows  on  Long  Island. 

"23d  Friday.  Enemy  landed  more  troops — 
News  that  they  had  marched  up  and  taken 
Station  near  Flatbush,  their  adv06  Gds  being  on 
this  side  near  the  woods — that  some  of  our  Rifle- 
men attacked  and  drove  them  back  from  their 
posts,  burnt  2  stacks  of  hay,  and  it  was  thought 
kill'd  some  of  them — this  about  12  o'cl.  at  Night. 
Our  troops  attacked  them  at  their  station  near 
Flatb.  routed  and  drove  them  back  1|  mile." 

But  three  days  more,  and  that  storm  of  war 
whose  portentous  approaches  Hale  thus  hurriedly 
sketches,  descended  in  fury — and  we  now  reach 
the  period  marked  by  that  great  event  which 
signalizes  his  character,  and  closes  his  life. 


CHAPTEK   IV. 

Circumstances  of  the  American  and  British  armies  when  Hale 
undertook  his  fatal  mission.  The  office  of  a  spy — its  danger — 
its  ignominy.  Col.  Knowlton  commissioned  by  Gen.  Washing- 
ton to  procure  some  one  to  undertake  it.  He  appeals  to  Ameri- 
can officers,  and  to  a  French  serjeant  in  the  army.  They  all 
refuse,  save  Hale,  who  readily  volunteers  for  the  duty.  His 
fellow-officers  warmly  remonstrate — but  in  vain.  Hale  nobly 
persists  in  his  purpose. 

To  understand  properly  the  event  to  which  allu- 
sion is  made  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter,  let  us 
look  first  at  the  circumstances  in  which  it  origin- 
ated. 

The  disastrous  battle  of.  Long  Island  had  been 
fought,*  and  the  American  troops,  filled  with  des- 
pair, had  retreated  to  the  Island  of  New  York. 


*  It  does  not  appear  that  Hale  participated  in  this  battle.  He 
was  however  at  the  time,  on  the  Long  Island  side.  Asher  Wright 
said  that  in  the  retreat  to  New  York,  one  of  the  last  things  done 
by  him  was  to  bring  over  Hale's  baggage. 


NATHAN     HALE.  83 

As  if  the  thunder  of  the  British  arms  had  deaf- 
ened their  ears  to  the  solicitations  of  patriotism, 
the  militia  began  to  desert  by  companies,  and  even 
by  entire  regiments.  Of  those  that  remained, 
fresh  as  they  were  from  the  workshop  and  the 
field,  a  large  portion  was  impatient  of  restraint, 
and  clamorous  for  pay.  One-fourth  of  them  were 
on  the  sick  list.  One-third  were  without  tents. 
They  had  clothes,  shoes,  and  blankets,  only  for  a 
summer  campaign,  and  winter  was  approaching. 
Food  and  forage  were  difficult  to  obtain.  The 
military  chest  was  entirely  empty  of  money,  and 
had  been  so  for  two  months.  In  positive  suffering 
then  from  want  of  supplies — without  confidence — 
without  subordination — importunate  in  com- 
plaints— the  American  army — fourteen  thousand 
only  fit  for  duty — in  the  early  part  of  September, 
1776,  lay  stretched  along — detached,  agitated,  and 
full  of  gloom — from  the  Battery  in  New  York 
far  to  Kingsbridge. 

And  facing  them  from  the  extreme  southern 
point  of  Long  Island  to  a  point  opposite  the 
Heights  of  Harlem — posted  at  Bedford,  Bush  wick, 


84  NATHAN     HALE. 

Newtown,  Flushing,  and  Hellgate — riding  in  ships 
and  transports  whose  formidable  batteries  frowned 
on  the  American  shores  from  the  Narrows  to 
Paulus  Hook,  and  up  the  East  Kiver  to  Flushing 
Bay — was  arranged  a  British  army  of  not  less 
than  twenty-five  thousand  men — a  land  and  naval 
force  magnificently  equipped  with  artillery,  mili- 
tary stores,  and  warlike  materials  of  every  kind, 
for  the  special  purpose,  as  it  was  proclaimed,  of 
"looking  down  and  ending  forever  the  opposition 
of  the  rebels  " — and  which,  under  the  command 
of  the  most  able  and  distinguished  generals,  was 
now  in  the  first  flush  of  victory — was  haughty, 
emulous,  impatient  of  farther  conquest,  and  confi- 
dent of  success. 

What  now,  under  these  relative  circumstances 
of  the  two  armies,  would  be  General  Howe's  next 
step  ?  It  was  a  question,  it  will  be  seen  at  once, 
of  infinite  moment  to  Washington,  and  his  enfee- 
bled, dispirited  army.  Would  the  British  make  a 
direct  attack  upon  the  city  of  New  York?  Or 
would  they  land  above  the  city — at  Turtle  Bay — or 
Horen's  Hook  ?  Or  cross  from  Montresor's  Island 


NATHAN     HALE.  85 

to  Harlem?  Or  passing  higher  up  the  Sound, 
land  at  Morrisania  or  Throg's  Point — or  perhaps, 
sailing  around  Long  Island,  land  at  some  point  on 
the  Main  still  farther  east  ?  Would  they  attempt 
above  or  below  Kingsbridge,  to  cut  off  the  com- 
munication of  the  American  army  with  the  coun- 
try? Or  was  it  their  purpose,  moving  as  they 
did  frequently  with  their  ships  of  war  up  the 
North  River,  to  make  a  descent  from  this  direction 
— at  Bloomingdale,  or  elsewhere  ?  Or  would  they 
simultaneously  land  parties  on  the  North  River 
side,  and  the  East  River  side — stretch  across  New 
York  Island,  and  intrench  themselves — and  sup- 
porting their  flanks  with  shipping,  cut  off  the  divi- 
sions of  the  American  army,  and  hem  in  the  town  ? 
Upon  the  solution  of  these  questions — with 
regard  to  which  Washington  writes,  September 
sixth,  "  we  cannot  learn,  nor  have  we  been  able  to 
procure  the  least  information  of  late  " — depended 
at  this  time  the  fate  of  the  American  army. 
Should  it— forced  as  it  then  was,  in  entire  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  real  point  of  attack,  to  guard  very 
extensive  lines,  whose  extremities  were  at  least 


86  NATHAN     HALE. 

sixteen  miles  apart — should  it  be  concentrated  or 
not  ?  If  so,  at  what  point  ?  Should  the  city  of 
New  York  be  held  and  defended  at  all  events,  or 
evacuated  in  whole,  or  in  part  ?  Should  Manhattan 
island  —  lest  a  hostile  landing  at  Kingsbridge 
might  stake  the  Revolution  on  a  single  battle 
against  a  far  superior  force — be  altogether  aban- 
doned ?  Where,  and  to  what  extent,  should  lines 
and  works  of  defence,  intrenchments,  redoubts, 
batteries,  and  abattis  be  established  ? 

All  these  vital  points,  without  precise  informa- 
tion as  to  the  enemy's  designs,  could  not  be  settled. 
In  vain  to  catch  some  hints  of  these  designs,  did 
American  scouts  venture  near  the  British  lines. 
In  vain  did  American  eyes  strain  through  the 
darkness,  when  night  settled  upon  the  armies,  in 
search  of  some  Hessian  deserter,  allured  by  bounty 
land,*  who  might  communicate  the  intentions  of 
the  British  generals.  In  vain  did  American  offi- 
cers convene  sad  and  thoughtful  around  their 
beloved  commander,  and  attempt,  from  the  positions 

*  Such  had  been  offered  to  deserters  from  the  British  army. 


NATHAN     HALE.  87 

of  the  foe,  to  work  out  the  problem  of  their 
plan.  All  places  of  their  own  encampment  seemed 
almost  equally  menaced.  All  points  of  the  Brit- 
ish encampment  seemed  almost  equally  supported, 
and  ready  to  disgorge  fire  and  death  upon  the 
broken-hearted  patriots.  It  was  the  policy  of 
Howe  to  blind — and  thus  far  he  had  succeeded. 

Some  one,  reasoned  Washington,  must  penetrate 
the  British  camp,  and  lift  this  veil  of  secrecy,  or 
the  American  army  is  lost — and  he  communicated 
this  opinion  to  his  Board  of  Officers.  The  Board 
agreed  fully  with  the  views  of  the  Commander-in- 
chief,  and  Colonel  Knowlton  was  instructed  to 
select  some  competent  person  for  the  hazardous 
office. 

An  office  not  alone  hazardous.  What  else  was 
it  ?  To  appreciate  the  position  of  Hale,  it  is  neces- 
say  to  dwell  a  moment  upon  it.  It  was  an 
office  also  ignominious.  In  the  judgment  of  every 
civilized  nation,  in  the  eye  of  all  national  law,  the 
use  of  spies  is  deemed  "  a  clandestine  practice  and 
deceit  in  war."  It  is  a  fraud  unworthy  of  an  open, 
manly  enemy — scarcely  redeemed  in  motive  by 


88  NATHAN     HALE. 

any  exigency  of  danger — and  pregnant  with  the 
worst  mischief  in  stimulating,  from  a  sense  of 
betrayal,  the  vengeance  of  a  foe,  and  in  under- 
mining those  sentiments  of  honor,  which,  like 
shoots  of  sunlight  upon  a  thunder-clouded  sky, 
tend  to  soften  the  blackness  of  war. 

The  spy  is  the  companion  of,  darkness.  He 
lurks — he  hides — or  if  he  moves  in  the  light,  it  is 
behind  walls,  in  the  shadow  of  trees,  in  the  lone- 
liness of  clefts,  under  the  cover  of  hills,  in  the 
gloom  of  ditches,  skulking  with  the  owl,  the  mole, 
or  the  Indian.  Or  if  he  enters  the  camp  of  an 
enemy,  he  insinuates  himself,  and  winds  treacher- 
ously into  confidence.  Caught,  his  sure  penalty 
is  the  halter.  "  Nathan  Palmer,  a  lieutenant  in 
your  King's  service,"  wrote  General  Putnam  from 
his  camp  at  Peekskill  to  Governor  Tryon,  "  was 
taken  in  my  camp  as  a  spy — he  was  tried  as  a  spy 
— and  you  may  rest  assured,  Sir,  he  shall  be 
hanged  as  a  spy.  P.  S.  Afternoon.  He  is  hanged.'1'1 
This  pithy,  laconic  epistle,  communicating  the  fate 
of  one  tory  agent  of  the  sort  of  which  we  speak, 
during  our  Revolution,  only  too  truly  describes 


NATHAN     HALE.  89 

the  quick  aversion,  particularly  of  soldiers,  to  all 
those  who  disguisedly  enter  a  military  camp  to 
bear  off  its  secrets  to  an  enemy,  and  the  instanta- 
neousness  almost  with  which  such  persons  pass 
from  capture  to  the  gallows.  And  yet,  notwith- 
standing all  this — the  employment  of  a  spy  in 
some  crisis  of  the  last  importance,  is  not  judged 
unworthy  a  great  commander.  His  success  is 
thought  most  meritorious,  and  is  followed,  if  not 
preceded,  by  honors  and  rewards.  Only  a  sove- 
reign may  not  ordinarily  command  the  service — so 
is  it  deemed  disgraceful — but  save  from  an  ene- 
my's subjects,  he  may  accept  it  when  voluntarily 
offered,  "  without  offence  to  honor  or  justice."* 

The  exigency  of  the  American  army  which  we 
have  just  described,  would  not  permit  the  employ- 
ment, in  the  service  proposed,  of  any  ordinary 
soldier,  unpractised  in  military  observation,  and 
without  skill  as  a  draughtsman — least  of  all  of  the 
common  mercenary,  to  whom,  allured  by  the  hope 
of  large  reward,  such  tasks  are  usually  assigned. 

*  Vattel. 
8* 


90  NATHAN     HALE. 

Accurate  estimates  of  the  numbers  of  the  enemy, 
of  their  distribution,  of  the  form  and  position  of 
their  various  encampments,  of  their  marchings 
and  countermarchings,  of  their  concentration  at 
one  point  or  another  of  the  instruments  of  war, 
but  more  than  all  of  their  plan  of  attack,  as  de- 
rived from  the  open  report,  or  the  unguarded 
whispers  in  camp  of  officers  or  men — estimates  of 
all  these  things,  requiring  a  quick  eye,  a  cool  head, 
a  practised  pencil,  military  science,  general  intelli- 
gence, and  pliable  address,  were  to  be  made.  The 
common  soldier  would  not  answer  the  purpose, 
and  the  mercenary  might  yield  to  the  higher 
seductions  of  the  enemy,  and  betray  his  em- 
ployers. 

Knowlton,  therefore,  appealed  to  officers — to 
those  of  his  own  regiment,  and  some  of  others, 
assembled  for  the  purpose — and  in  the  name  of  the 
Commander-in-chief  invited  the  service.  The 
solemn  pause  which  followed  his  appeal  was  long 
unbroken — and  not  strangely.  To  meet  the  ene- 
my face  to  face — boldly  to  oppose  his  breast  to  the 
reeking  sabre,  the  blood-red  bayonet,  and  the 


NATHAN     HALE.  91 

volleys  of  battle,  and  "foremost  fighting  fall" — here 
was  the  soldier's  true  place,  and  "  Honor  decked 
the  turf  that  wrapped  his  prostrate  clay."  But  to 
play  the  spy — the  hated  spy — and  an  officer  to  do 
it!  It  was  too  irredeemably  humiliating — and 
one  after  another  of  the  officers  present,  as  Knowl- 
ton  repeated  his  appeal  individually,  declined. 

His  task  seemed  hopeless.  He  appealed  in  his 
extremity,  it  is  said,  to  a  French  Serjeant  who  had 
served  in  the  French  War,  trusting  that  a  sense 
of  shame  in  his  breast  less  poignant,  and  the  spirit, 
in  him  remarkable,  for  hazardous  adventure,  might 
induce  him  to  undertake.  "  No !  no !  " — he  replied 
promptly.  "  I  am  ready  to  fight  the  British  at 
any  place  and  time,  but  I  do  not  feel  willing  to 
go  among  them  to 'be  hung  up  like  a  dog!" — 
What  was  to  be  done  ? 

From  the  group  of  reluctant,  half-resentful  offi- 
cers— at  the  moment  when  all  hope  for  the  enter- 
prise seemed  at  an  end,  and  the  heart  of  Knowl- 
ton,  saddened  with  the  thought  of  future  misfortune, 
was  fast  yielding  to  the  torture  of  disappointment 
— there  came  a  voice  with  the  painfully  thrilling, 


92  NATHAN     HALE. 

yet  cheering  words — " I 'will  undertake  it!"  That 
was  the  voice  of  Captain  NATHAN  HALE.  He  had 
come  late  into  the  assembly  of  officers.  Scarcely 
yet  recovered  from  a  severe  illness,  his  face  still 
pale,  without  his  accustomed  strength  of  body, 
yet  firm  and  ardent  as  ever  of  soul,  he  volunteered 
at  once,  reckless  of  its  danger,  and  though  doubt- 
less appalled,  not  vanquished  by  its  disgrace,  to 
discharge  the  repudiated  trust. 

His  family,  his  fellow-officers,  many  of  them, 
remonstrated  at  his  choice.  Young,  ardent,  edu- 
cated, accomplished,  the  darling  of  the  soldiery, 
the  pride  of  his  commander,  why  should  he  put 
life  and  reputation  thus  at  hazard  ?  The  legitimate 
stratagems  of  war  are  "  feints  and  evasions  per- 
formed under  no  disguise — are  familiar  to  com- 
manders— form  a  part  of  their  plans,  and  executed 
with  tact,  exact  admiration  from  the  enemy  " — but 
who  respects  the  character  of  a  spy,  assuming  the 
garb  of  friendship  but  to  betray  ?  "  Did  his  coun- 
try demand  the  moral  degradation  of  her  sons  to 
advance  her  interests  ?  "  Would  he  not  have 
ample  opportunity,  in  the  progress  of  the  war,  by 


NATHAN     HALE.  93 

exertions  daily  felt,  "  to  give  his  talents  and  Ids 
life,  should  it  be  so  ordered,  to  the  sacred  cause  to 
which  he  was  pledged?  "  Why  then,  by  one  fatal 
act,  crush  forever  "  the  power  and  the  opportunity 
Heaven  offered  him  for  his  country's  glory,  and 
his  own  happiness  ?  "  Why  sadden  the  hearts  of 
his  doating  parents,  his  relatives,  and  friends — 
looking  and  expecting  as  they  all  were  to  see  him 
climb  undisguisedly  and  gracefully  the  rounds  of 
Fame's  military  ladder — why  cloud  all  this  fond 
expectation  with  the  dark  martyrdom  of  a  felon  ? 
Such  were  the  considerations  addressed  to  Hale, 
with  even  tearful  entreaty,  by  some  of  his  brother 
soldiers,  and  by  none  with  more  assiduity  than 
by  General  William  Hull,  then  an  officer  of  the 
same  grade  in  the  army  with  Hale,  and  who  for 
three  years  Hale's  companion  in  College,*  and  his 
intimate  afterwards  in  the  camp,  enforced  his  views 
with  all  the  pride  natural  to  the  soldier,  and  with 
all  the  warmth  of  private  friendship.  Hear  Hale's 
reply ! 

*  Hull  graduated  in  1772. 


94  NATHAN     HALE. 

"  I  think  I  owe  to  my  country  the  accomplishment 
of  an  object  so  important,  and  so  much  desired  by  the 
Commander  of  her  armies — and  I  know  no  other 
mode  of  obtaining  the  information,  than  by  assuming 
a  disguise,  and  passing  into  the  enemy's  camp.  I  am 
fully  sensibk  of  the  consequences  of  discovery  and 
capture  in  such  a  situation.  But  for  a  year  I  have 
been  attached  to  the  army,  and  have  not  rendered  any 
material  'service,  while  receiving  a  compensation  for 
which  I  make  no  return.  Yet  I  am  not  influenced 
by  the  expectation  of  promotion  or  pecuniary  reward. 
I  wish  to  be  useful,  and  every  kind  of  service  neces- 
sary for  the  public  good,  becomes  honorable  by  being 
necessary.  If  the  exigencies  of  my  country  demand 
a  peculiar  service,  its  claims  to  the  performance  of  that 
service  are  imperious  1 " 

He  spoke,  says  Hull,  "with  warmth  and 
decision ! " 

What  grandeur  of  self-sacrifice — what  appreci- 
ation intense  as  rare,  of  the  obligations  of  duty — 
what  glorious  abandonment  of  fear  even  where 
fear  is  deemed  a  virtue — what  sublime  confidence 
in  the  redeeming  power  of  a  holy  purpose — im- 


N  A  T  H  A  X     H  A  L  E  .  95 

mortalize  these  the  words  of  the  martyr  Hale,  as 
he  respectfully  confronts  the  solicitations  of  his 
friends,  and  firmly,  movelessly,  bolts  and  bars 
himself  within  his  noble  resolution ! 

True,  military  pride  revolts  at  the  disgrace 
which  I  propose  to  undergo,  he  reasons.  True, 
the  mean  death  that  awaits  me  with  the  enemy, 
under  the  sanction  of  national  law,  should  I  fail 
in  the  undertaking.  True,  my  kindred,  rny  friends, 
all  to  whom  I  am  bound  by  the  sweet  ties  of  love, 
may  have  to  mourn  my  loss  in  an  employment 
from  which  all  dreams  of  greatness  flee.  But 
pressing  as  are  all  these  considerations — delicate 
and  hazardous,  in  every  view,  as  is  the  task — 
"the  soldier  should  never  consult  his  fears  when 
duty  calls." 

It  is  the  wish  of  the  Commander-in-chief. 
Would  he  ask  such  a  service — and  from  an  officer 
— if  he  did  not  deem  it  utterly  vital  to  the  army  ? 
The  gloom  which  a  triumphal  foe  casts  over  the 
American  cause  is  awful — if  the  spy  can  lift  it, 
why  not  the  end  sanctify  the  means,  and  I  that 
spy — I  that  have  not  been  able  hitherto  "to  render 


96  NATHAN     HALE. 

any  material  service  ?  "  The  liberty  of  three  mil- 
lions of  people,  freshly  risen  to  vindicate  their 
rights,  and  now  rocking  at  hazard  in  the  stormy 
cradle  of  war,  is  staked  on  the  particular  enterprise 
in  prospect.  Its  solitude,  its  darkness,  its  craft, 
its  hypocrisy,  its  waste  and  sacrifice  of  the  soldier's 
honor,  its  last  horrible  penalty — may  these  not  all 
be  vindicated  by  the  patriotic  spirit  with  which 
they  may  be  endured,  and  by  the  glorious  boon 
which  it  may  be  the  spy's  fortune  to  offer  to  his 
bleeding,  imperilled  country  ?  The  importance  of 
the  service  outweighs  every  other  consideration — 
"I  go  I  "  And  he  presented  himself  to  General 
Washington. 


CHAPTEE    Y. 

Hale,  after  receiving  instructions  from  Gen.  Washington,  starts 
upon  his  expedition,  accompanied  by  Stephen  Hempstead,  a  con- 
fidential soldier  of  his  own  company.  They  reach  Norwalk, 
Connecticut.  Hale  here  assumes  a  disguise,  parts  with  his  com- 
panion, and  leaves  for  Long  Island  in  the  sloop  Huntington,  Cap- 
tain Pond.  Safe  passage  across  the  Sound.  His  journey  to 
New  York,  and  its  risks. 

RECEIVING  from  the  Commander-in-chief  par- 
ticular instructions,  and  a  general  order  upon  all 
the  American  sloops  or  galleys  in  the  Sound  to 
convey  him  across  to  any  point  upon  Long  Island 
which  he  should  designate,  Hale,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  September,  bearing  in  his  hands  materials 
for  a  disguise,  and  accompanied  by  Stephen 
Hempstead,*  a  confidential  soldier  of  his  own 
company,  left  the  Camp  at  Harlem  Heights, 

*  For  a  sketch  of  Hempstead,  see  appendix  H. 
9 


98  NATHAN     HALE. 

intending  to  cross  the  sound  by  the  first  opportu- 
nity.* 

Many  vessels  of  the  enemy  were  at  this  time 
cruising  along  East  River,  and  in  the  Sound. 
Their  guns  might  be  heard,  at  frequent  intervals, 
reverberating  along  the  Main  as  some  adventu- 
rous Yankee  craft,  small  boat  or  galley,  glided  out 
from  some  bay  or  inlet,  and  provoked  pursuit. 
Hostile  scouting  and  forage  parties  too,  lined  the 
Long  Island  shore,  and  no  friendly  flag  appeared 
— not  even  one  of  those  little  privateering  whale- 
boats,  whose  press-gangs  or  crews  of  well  armed 
volunteers,  so  often  at  this  period,  and  sometimes 
so  uncavalierly,  annoyed  the  British  and  tories — 
until  Hale  and  his  companions  reached  Norwalk, 
fifty  miles  up  the  Sound  on  the  Connecticut  shore. 
Here  they  found  one  or  two  row-galleys,  and  the 
armed  sloop  Huntington,  commanded  by  Captain 
Enoch  Pond.  The  sloop,  Hale  quickly  engaged. 

* "  I  have  sent  out  some  reconnoitering  parties  to  gain  intelli- 
gence, if  possible,  of  the  disposition  of  the  enemy,"  wrote  Wash- 
ington, September  sixteenth,  to  the  President  of  Congress.  Was  not 
Hale  in  his  mind  when  he  penned  this  passage  ?  It  would  not  do,  of 
course,  for  him  to  specify  either  the  spy,  or  his  mission,  in  any  letter. 


X  A  T  H  A  N    H  A  L  E  .  99 

Thus  far  lie  had  come  upon  a  friendly  shore — 
among  his  own  countrymen — where  here  and 
there  only  some  powerless  tory  shrank  from  his 
sight  as  he  glided  by  in  the  undress  of  a  Conti- 
nental officer.*  He  was  now  to  pass  to  a  shore 
occupied,  or  controlled  to  a  great  extent,  by  the 
British  and  their  abettors.  How  then  disguise 
himself?  What  character  should  he  assume  as 
best  calculated  to  lull  suspicion,  and  promote  the 
opportunities  he  desired  ?  He  decided  upon  one 
to  him  perfectly  familiar — in  which  his  own  expe- 
rience had  given  him  ease  and  self-possession,  and 
which  from  its  unassuming  and  somewhat  itine- 
rant nature,  was  calculated,  in  those  days  when 
men  rarely  stirred  abroad  without  watchwords  and 
passes,  to  engender  confidence,  or  at  least  not  to 
awaken  an  active  jealousy.  He  was  to  play  the 
Schoolmaster  !f 


*  "  He  had  on  a  frock,  when  I  last  saw  him,  made  of  white 
linen,  and  fringed,  such  as  officers  used  to  wear.  He  was  too  good 
looking  to  go  so.  He  could  not  deceive.  Some  scrubby  fellow 
ought  to  have  gone."  Testimony  of  Asher  Wright. 

f  Hempstead  says  that  Hale  told  him  he  intended  to  play  "  the 


100  NATHAN    HALE. 

Stripping  off  his  uniform  then,  he  placed  it, 
together  with  his  military  commission,  and  all  the 
papers  he  had  with  him,  public  or  private,  save 
perhaps  one  to  be  shortly  mentioned,  in  the  hands 
of  his  companion  Hempstead.  To  these  he  added 
his  silver  shoe  buckles,  remarking  that  these 
"  would  not  now  comport  with  his  character  as 
Schoolmaster."  His  watch  also  he  is  reported  to 
have  handed  to  his  friend,  but  after  a  moment  of 
reflection  to  have  resumed  it,  with  the  declaration 
that  "he  would  risk  his  watch  where  he  would 
risk  his  life" — as  if  satisfied  that  no  treachery 
lurked  in  that  little  unostentatious  monitor  of 
time,  especially  in  the  hands  of  one, 

"  Who  in  some  noisy  mansion,  skilled  to  rule, 
As  village  master  taught  his  little  school." 

Putting  on  a  plain  suit  of  citizen's  brown  clothes, 
and  a  round  broad-brimmed  hat,  and  retaining,  it 
is  said,  as  an  introduction  to  his  assumed  calling, 

Dutch  Schoolmaster."  Probably  so — not  seriously,  however — but 
only  by  way  of  jest.  He  was  going  into  a  country  thickly  inhab- 
ited by  the  Dutch. 


NATHAN    HALE.  101 

his  college  diploma — the  classical  vellum  on  which 
the  Keverend  Doctor  Napthali  Dagget  had  certi- 
fied his  Baccalaureate — he  leaped  on  board  the 
sloop  after  the  night  had  fallen,  bade  his  friend, 
with  a  cheerful  voice,  await  his  return,  or  news 
from  him  at  Nor  walk,  and  was  soon  under  way, 
the  patriot  spy,  with  a  cool  head,  and  a  bold 
heart,  for  the  head  of  Huntington  Bay. 

His  passage  across  the  Sound  was  prosperous, 
and  about  two  hours  before  daybreak,  the  little 
craft  which  bore  him,  gliding  midway  between 
Eaton  and  Lloyd's  Necks,  hove  to  near  the  shore 


A.  Place  where  Hale  landed,  and  probable  place  of  his  capture. 

of  East  or  Great  Neck— an  elevated  tract  of  land 
remarkable  for  its  extensive,  and  picturesque,  but 


102  NATHAN    HALE. 

then  lonely  scenery,  on  the  east  side  of  the  harbor 
of  Huntington. 

A  boat  was  immediately  lowered.  Hale  took 
his  station  in  the  stern,  and  four  stout  oarsmen 
propelled  him  quickly  to  the  shore.  The  point 
where  he  landed  was  a  neighborhood  known  as 
"  the  Cedars"  and  is  still  so  called  at  the  present 
day.  One  Jesse  Fleet  had  there  a  farm — still,  we 
understand,  in  the  tenure  of  his  family — and  near 
his  dwelling  stood  that  also  of  Widow  Kachel 
Chichester,  familiarly  called  "  Hotfier  Chich" — who, 
herself  a  loyalist,  made  her  house  a  rendezvous, 
somewhat  famous,  for  all  the  tories  of  her  region. 
Hale  passed  this  dangerous  vicinity  in  safety,  and 

• 

following  the  course  of  a  road  which  led  from  the 
beach  towards  a  settlement  on  the  east  side  of 
Huntington  harbor,  after  about  a  mile's  walk, 
reached,  in  the  centre  of  a  large  field,  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  William  Johnson.  Attracted  by  a 
light  streaming  through  a  window,  Hale,  it  is 
affirmed  on  good  authority,  approached  the  house 
with  a  quick  and  assured  step.  The  door  was 
opened  by  Mr.  Johnson  himself,  who,  "  after  a 


NATHAN    HALE. 

confidential  interview,  gave  Hale  such  information 
as  Ms  case  required,  and  the  comforts  also  of  a 
hearty  breakfast,  and  a  bed  to  rest  upon  for  a  few 
hours.  "  When  the  morning  had  somewhat  ad- 
vanced," says  the  account  from  which  we  derive 
these  facts,  "  the  stranger  departed." 

Whither  now,  particularly — by  what  routes — 
with  what  experiences  ?  Would  it  not  be  pleas- 
ant to  know  ? 

We  have  no  means,  however,  of  tracing  his 
progress  hence  to  New  York,  and  back  to  the 
point  of  his  capture.  His  risk — his  watchfulness 
—his  fatigue — his  hurry — his  delays — his  skill  of 
imposture — 'his  anxiety  of  mind — his  suffering 
from  cold — his  loss  of  sleep — 'his  bivouac  by  the 
rock,  the  fence,  upon  the  tree  or  in  the  ditch — 
his  stealthy  noting  of  posts,  situations,  numbers, 
plans,  by  the  glare  of  day,  or  by  the  dim  moon- 
light, or  flickering  lantern — his  delusion  of  pat- 
rols and  guards — his  conciliation  of  camps — all 
these  the  particulars  of  that  vital  quest  in  which 
Hale  was  engaged,  we  are  left,  in  the  dearth  of 
any  memorials,  to  conjecture. 


104  NATHAN    HALE. 

Yet  we  are  assured  that  his  survey  was  accu- 
rate and  successful.  We  know  that,  when  taken, 
exact  drawings  of  the  works  of  the  enemy,  with 
accompanying  descriptions  and  notes,  were  found 
between  the  soles  of  his  pumps.  We  know  that 
several  days  elapsed  between  his  departure  from 
the  American  camp  and  his  capture.*  We  know- 
that  before  he  reached  New  York,  the  British  Line 
had  landed  two  miles  above  the  city  at  Kip's  Bay 
— that  General  Howe  with  one  portion  of  his  vic- 
torious troops  occupied  the  town — that  General 
Clinton  with  another  portion,  higher  up,  between 
"  the  seventh  and  eighth  milestones,"  lay  stretched 
across  the  whole  island  from  the  East  to  the  North 
Kiver — while  other  portions  of  the  foe  still  cov- 
ered important  points  upon  Long  Island,  reaching 
from  Red  Hook  to  Flushing  Bay,  and  from  Brook- 

*  "  Capt  Hale  went  away — was  gone  about  a  fortnight  before  I 
knew  what  was  become  of  him. — When  he  left  us,  he  told  me  he 
had  got  to  be  absent  awhile,  and  wanted  I  should  take  care  of  his 
things,  and  if  the  army  moved  before  he  returned,  have  them 
moved  too. — When  he  went  away,  he  did  not  tell  me  where  he 
was  going."  Testimony  of  Asher  Wright. 


NATHAN     HALE.  105 

lyn  far  back,  in  patrolling  and  foraging  parties, 
into  the  interior.  We  know  also  that  Hale  was 
not  taken  until,  having  achieved  his  purpose,  he 
was  far  back  on  his  return  to  the  American  camp. 

He  must,  therefore,  have  passed  through  the 
entire  British  army.  It  is  not  difficult  then,  under 
these  circumstances,  to  conceive  his  positions  and 
occupation. 

He  must  have  encountered  on  his  way  English, 
Highlanders,  Waldeckers,  and  Hessians,  tories 
and  refugees,  British  sutlers  and  marauders, 
armed  and  unarmed,  and  been  exposed  momently 
to  the  peril  of  detection.  Now  by  day,  as  he 
passed  through  Queen's  County,  we  can  see  him 
listening  from  some  place  of  concealment  to  the 
echo  of  the  British  Lighthorse,  as  they  galloped 
past  in  pursuit  of  some  leading  whigs — now  watch- 
ing some  company  of  British  Foot,  as  they  scoured 
the  country  in  search  of  grain,  or  lay  quartered 
around  some  magazine  of  forage — now,  remote 
from  the  road,  interrogating  some  Cowboy  about 
the  latest  news  from  camp — -now  upon  the  high- 
way communicating  with  some  teamster  impressed 


106  NATHAN     HALE. 

to  carry  hay  and  straw  to  New  York — now  in 
some  solitary  farm-house  questioning  some  billeted 
soldier  of  the  foe  over  an  evening  mug  of  cider. 

Now,  as  he  approached  the  chief  encampments, 
we  can  see  him  straining  his  gaze  at  squads  of 
the  enemy  as  they  fortified  their  field-works,  or 
mustered  and  marched.  Now  by  night  he  is 
counting  at  a  distance  their  fires,  and  listening  to 
the  hum  of  their  tents,  or  walking  in  the  black 
hours  from  watch  to  watch  to  receive  the  secret 
whispers  of  their  fixed  sentinels.  Now,  probably, 
while  the  badge  of  loyalty,  a  red  ribbon,  or  a  strip 
of  red  flannel,  streamed  from  his  hat,  he  ventures 
within  the  very  bosom  of  their  camps,  and  there, 
smiling  the  tory,  seems  to  unite  heartily  in  the 
coarse  jibe  and  laugh  at  the  expense  of  those 
whose  cause  he  served — or  catechized,  perhaps,  in 
his  profession  as  a  Schoolmaster  by  some  group 
of  jesting  Eedcoats, 

"  to  see  how  much  he  knew, 
If  he  could  read  and  cipher  too," 

he  responds  to  all  their  raillery  with  a  loose  grace, 
and  specimens  of  his  attainments. 


X. 


NATHAN     HALE.  1Q7 

Now  in  the  city  of  New  York,  occupied,  every 
street  of  it,  more  or  less,  with  British  soldiers  bil- 
leted in  houses  left  vacant  by  the  whigs,  he  cau- 
tiously pursues  his  way — exposed  each  instant, 
as  was  every  citizen  at  the  time  who  went  abroad, 
to  the  peril  of  arrest,  and  of  confinement  if  his 
loyalty  could  not  at  once  be  made  out — or  to  the 
chance,  perhaps,  of  being  hung  up  at  the  first 
convenient  post,  from  a  misapprehension  of  his 
character,  or  a  conviction  that  he  sympathized 
with  the  rebels — or  liable  to  be  sent  to  suffer  and 
starve  with  the  Long  Island  prisoners  in  the  old 
"  Sugar  House,"  from  whose  fearful  gateway  the 
"Dead   Cart"   already  bore    its   daily   morning 
freight  of  victims,  six  or  eight  in  number — but 
through  all  these  varied  positions,  at  each  perilous 
moment  for  observation,  "  interpreting  all  motions, 
looks,  and  eyes,"  he  resolutely  pursues,  and  works 
out  that  problem  of  the  British  plan  given  him 
by  his  beloved  Commander-in-chief,  whose  solu- 
tion, it  was  thought -and  hoped,  would  prove  the 
salvation  of  his  country. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Hale  starts  on  his  return  to  the  American  Camp.  Reaches  the 
"  Cedars,"  East  Neck,  Huntington,  L.  I.,  where  he  is  captured. 
His  behaviour  on  the  occasion.  Is  carried  to  New  York.  The 
great  fire  in  the  city  at  the  time.  Is  immediately  taken  before 
Gen.  Howe.  The  head-quarters,  appearance,  and  character  of 
the  British  Commander-in-chief.  Hale's  heroic  conduct  upon 
his  examination.  Is  condemned  as  a  spy,  and  is  to  be  hung,  "  at 
daybreak  the  next  morning.1' 

FROM  the  midst  of  all  these  dangers,  Hale  star- 
ted— undetected  and  unharmed — on  his  return  to 
the  American  camp.  Crossing  the  East  River, 
probably  at  Brooklyn,  he  threaded  his  way  back 
through  the  woods,  and  around  all  the  British 
posts  and  parties  upon  Long  Island,  until  he 
reached  in  safety  that  point  on  the  shore  near  Hun- 
tington where  he  first  landed,  and  where  it  had 
been  arranged  that  a  boat  of  his  own  countrymen 
should  meet  him,  and  set  him  over  to  the  Connec- 
ticut Main. 


NATHAN     HALE.  109 

There  lie  is  now  at  "  the  Cedars  " — alone.  It 
was  morning — early — the  time  of  his  arrival  at 
this  point.  It  was  also  still — a  solitude  compared 
with  the  country  he  had  left  behind  him.  His  ear 
could  not  perceive  the  echo  of  one  hostile  tread, 
nor  did  he  dream,  at  such  a  time  and  place,  remote 
as  he  thought  himself  from  any  British  station, 
that  he  could  be  intercepted.  He  started  forth  to 
reconnoitre,  expecting  behind  some  sheltering 
headland,  in  some  snug  inlet,  or  within  some  lit- 
tle channel  thick  canopied  with  trees  and  bushes, 
to  find  the  wished  for  boat. 

It  did  not,  however,  immediately  appear — and 
feeling  secure  in  his  treble  disguise  of  dress,  man- 
ner, and  conversation,  Hale  betook  himself  for  a 
while,  according  to  one  account  of  the  transaction, 
to  that  tory  rendezvous  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken — the  tavern  of  "Mother  Chich"* — and 

*  Doctor  Ray,  of  Huntington,  Long  Island,  who  has  given  much 
attention  to  Hale's  fate,  says  that  in  a  few  days  after  Hale  left  Mr. 
Johnson,  having  during  the  intermediate  time  passed  through  Long 
Island  to  New  York  City  and  returned  by  the  same  route,  making 

memoranda  of  the  information  he  had  gathered,  he  again  appeared 
10 


110  NATHAN     HALE. 

from  this  point  was  soon  betrayed.  According  to 
another  account,  he  continued  his  lookout  along 
the  shore  for  the  expected  boat  up  to  the  very 


at  the  Cedars,  and  feeling  secure  in  the  simplicity  of  his  dress, 
as  well  as  in  his  disguised  manner,  and  address,  entered  the 
tavern  of  Widow  Chichester,  familiarly  called  Mother  Chich.  "  A 
number  of  persons,"  proceeds  Dr.  Ray,  "  were  seated  in  the  room, 
and,  as  he  had  to  wait  several  hours  for  the  appearance  of  a  boat  to 
convey  him  away,  he  trusted  to  his  ready  powers  of  conversation 
to  make  himself  agreeable,  and  to  avert  suspicion.  A  moment 
after,  a  man  with  a  familiar  face  left  the  room. 

"  Long  before  the  time  had  elapsed  for  the  arrival  of  the  vessel 
expected  by  the  stranger,  Widow  Chichester  suddenly  announced 
to  her  guests  that  a  strange  boat  was  seen  approaching  the  shore. 
This  news  produced  consternation  and  scampering  among  the 
loyalists,  while  the  breast  of  the  stranger  thrilled  with  joy,  as  he 
left  the  bar-room  for  the  beach,  where  the  boat  had  already  struck. 
Soon  he  found  himself  within  range  of  several  muskets  pointed  at 
him — while  a  voice  cried  out, '  Surrender  or  die ! ' 

"In  a  moment  of  surprise  he  was  seized  by  what  proved  to  be  a 
party  from  a  British  armed  vessel  lying  around  the  point  of  Lloyd's 
neck,  out  of  view  from  the  Cedars.  To  his  mortification  and 
astonishment,  he  discovered  among  the  boat's  crew  the  very  per- 
son who  had  so  suddenly  left  the  tavern  as  he  entered  the  door,  and 
whom  he  now  recognized  as  an  unworthy  relative.  [See  App.  I.] 

"Longer  concealment  was  useless,  and  the  stranger  avowed 


K AT HAN    HALE.  HI 

moment  of  his  capture.  Be  these  circumstances 
as  they  may  have  been,  all  the  accounts  we  have 
received  agree,  in  the  main,  as  to  the  manner  in 
in  which  he  was  finally  seized — and  it  was  as  we 
shall  now  narrate. 

A  barge,  to  all  appearance  such  an  one  as  Hale 
was  expecting,  quietly  impelled,  was  seen  ap- 
proaching the  shore.  Confident  of  the  friendly 
character  of  the  crew,  and  expecting  to  receive 
at  once  a  hearty  welcome,  Hale  walked  delibe- 
rately down  to  the  water  side — when  lo !  to  his» 
utter  surprise,  as  the  barge  struck  the  shore,  she 
proved  to  be  British  ! 

He  attempted  at  once  to  retrace  his  steps.  A 
loud  summons  commanded  him  to  stop.  He 
glanced  over  his  shoulder,  and  saw  the  whole  crew 
now  standing  erect,  and  levelling  at  him  with 


himself  to  be  NATHAN  HALE.  He  left  the  American  Camp,  at 
Harlem  Heights,  at  the  request  of  Gen.  Washington,  to  ascertain 
the  condition  of  the  British  forces  on  Long  Island.  He  was  taken 
to  New  York  by  water,  examined  by  Gen.  Howe,  and  condemned 
to-  be  hung  as  a  spy,  which  sentence  was  carried  into  effect  the 
next  day  with  circumstances  of  aggravated  cruelty,  by  Capt.  Cun- 
ningham, the  Provost  Marshal." 


112  X  A  THAN    HALE. 

their  muskets.  "  Surrender  or  die ! " — an  imperi- 
ous voice  exclaimed.  He  was  close  within  reach. 
Their  shot  would  inevitably  prove  fatal.  Escape 
was  impossible.  He  turned,  and  complying  with 
their  command,  passed  on  board  the  barge.  The 
guardship  to  which  she  belonged — the  Halifax, 
Captain  Quarme — and  from  which,  it  is  said,  she 
had  been  sent  ashore  for  water — lay  off  at  a  little 
distance,  hid  from  sight  by  the  intervening  point 
of  Lloyd's  Neck.*  To  the  deck  of  this  armed 
vessel  Hale  was  soon  transferred — at  last,  and  at 
the  very  moment  when  his  heart  was  palpitating 
with  triumph  at  his  supposed  success — a  prisoner. 
No  suspicion  at  first,  it  has  been  stated,  was 
entertained  of  his  true  character,  till  he  was  unfor- 
tunately met  and  recognised  by  a  fellow-country- 
man and  a  relative,  a  tory  and  renegade,  who,  divul- 
ging his  previous  life  and  actual  situation  in  the 
Continental  Army,  and  corroborating  his  state- 
ments in  part  by  the  production  of  Hale's  college 

*  She  lay  off  the  east  side  of  the  Neck  to  protect  a  body  of  men 
who  were  employed  in  cutting  wood  for  the  British  garrison  at  New 
York.  So  says  Thompson,  the  historian  of  Long  Island. 


•a*  .* 


NATHAN     HALE.  113 

diploma,  infamously  betrayed  him.  This  account, 
we  now  fully  believe,  has  no  foundation  in  truth* 
— but  the  fact  of  Hale's  arrest  at  the  point  describ- 
ed seems  well  made  out,  and  as  his  captors  strip- 
ped and  searched  him,  the  plans  and  memoranda 
found  in  his  pumps  proved  his  strong  accusers.f 

What  had  he — a  plain  Schoolmaster — to  do 
with  laborious  profiles  of  intrenchments,  forts, 
field-works,  and  batteries — and  these  exact  coun- 
terparts of  those  occupied  and  manned  by  the 
royal  army  ?  Why  write  his  notes — and  in  the 
suspicious  society  of  military  draughts — in  Latin 
— a  contrivance,  it  was  thought,  disguising  and 
unintelligible  to  the  world  generally  as  the  myste- 
terious  ciphers  of  correspondence,  or  the  anaglyphs 
of  the  pyramids  ?  Why  too  was  the  prisoner  at 
a  point  so  remote — alone,  and  hardly  day-break — • 
and  why  did  he  retreat  at  first  with  such  obvious 
disappointment  from  his  captors  ? 


*  See  on  this  point,  Appendix  I. 

t "  They  stopped  him,  searched,  and  found  drawings  of  the  works, 
with  descriptions  in  Latin,  under  the  inner  sole  of  the  pumps  which 

he  wore."      Testimony  of  As  her  Wright. 
10* 


114  tfATHAX     HALE. 

Here  was  an  indictment  difficult  to  meet.  How 
Hale  attempted  to  meet  it  at  first,  we  know  not — 
probably  with  ingenious  pretences,  and  the  sem- 
blance of  simplicity,  with  careless  self-possession, 
and  conciliating  jocularity.  But  even  the  rudest 
sailor  could  interpret  the  facts.  Hale  must  be  a 
spy.  As  such  Captain  Quarme  treated  him,  though 
with  kindness,  we  are  assured — won  by  the  noble 
traits  of  his  character,  and  regretting,  as  he  after- 
wards said,  "that  so  fine  a  fellow  had  fallen  into 
his  power."  As  such,  he  soon  sent  him,  as  was- 
his  custom  with  prisoners,  to  New  York,  in  one 
of  the  boats  of  the  Halifax — back,  under  the  guard 
of  a  detachment  of  his  captors  bearing  the  evi- 
dences of  his  guilt,  to  that  city,  swarming  with 
his  foes,  from  which  he  had  just  escaped. 

It  was  Saturday,  the  twenty-first  of  September, 
when  Hale  reached  his  destination — a  day  long  to 
be  remembered  in  American  annals,  not  only  as 
that  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  patriot  we  de- 
scribe, but  also  for  the  horror  and  alarm,  from 
another  event,  in  the  midst  of  which  his  fearful 
sentence  was  past.  New  York,  that  day,  after  two 


NATHAN    HALE.  115 

o'clock  in  the  morning,  was  on  fire.  From  White- 
hall Slip  the  devouring  element — fanned  by  a  vio- 
lent southwest  wind,  and  unprovided  against  by 
any  force  of  engines — shooting  aloft  its  hot  clouds 
of  smoke  lurid  with  sparks,  and  hurling  its  fiery 
flakes  in  every  direction  among  wooden  buildings 
— came  roaring  and  leaping  along  both  sides  up 
Broadway — mounted  the  spires  of  Trinity  Church, 
as  if  to  signalize  its  triumph  to  the  whole  adjoining 
country — and  in  one  insufferable  wave  of  blaze, 
rolled  on  towards  St.  Paul's — till  beyond,  near 
Barclay  Street,  arrested  by  the  College  Green  and 
a  change  of  wind,  it  stopped  at  last,  having  laid 
four  hundred  and  ninety-three  houses,  nearly  one- 
third  of  the  city,  in  ashes.  The  dark  confusion 
of  that  morning  .and  day  as  the  British  soldiers 
fought  the  flames — the  peal  of  the  alarm  bells — 
the  loud  shouting  of  voices  in  wonder  and  terror, 
mingled  with  the  louder  roar  of  timbers,  walls,  and 
roofs,  as  they  cracked,  rocked,  and  tumbled  to  the 
ground — had  hardly  yet  subsided — the  broad  sky 
itself  not  long  lost  its  startling  semblance  of  confla- 
gration— when  the  guard  with  Hale,  landing  prob- 


116  NATHAN     HALE. 

ably  at  one  of  the  slips  of  the  city,  started  to  seek 
the  prisoner's  judge,  the  British  Commander-in- 
chief. 

General  Howe,  at  this  time,  had  his  quarters 
near  Turtle  Bay,  on  the  East  Eiver,  at  Mount 
Pleasant — the  then  family  seat  of  James  Beek- 
man  Esquire,  a  sterling  Whig,  who,  on  the  near 
approach  of  the  British  army,  had  retreated  with 
his  family  for  security  to  Esopus.  The  old  man- 
sion which  he  occupied,  and  which  was  subse- 
quently occupied  by  General  Clinton  and  British 
officers  of  rank — and  among  the  rest  by  Andre, 
on  the  very  night  before  he  went  up  the  Hudson 
on  his  ill-fated  expedition — stood  three  and  a 
quarter  miles  from  the  present  City  Park  of 
New  York,  and  at  the  corner,  of  the  present 

• 

fifty-first  street  and  first  avenue — a  spot  just  dis- 
tant enough  from  the  Provost  Jail,  and  old  Sugar 
House,  to  save  the  knightly  ears  of  the  British 
Commander-in-chief  from  the  wailings  of  Amer- 
ican prisoners,  and  the  profane  echoes  of  his  own 
cavalry  in  the  churches,  and  yet  in  convenient 
location  to  hear  the  report  of  his  officers,  as 


NATHAN     HALE.  117 

one  after  another  some  captive  of  note,  or  citizen 
of  questionable  loyalty,  was  brought  up  from  the 
city  for  examination.  The  building  is  still  stand- 
ing, with  the  original  decorations,  blue  and  gold, 
of  the  room  occupied  by  General  Clinton  yet  un- 
changed— and  near  it  stood  a  greenhouse — an  airy 
apartment,  that  at  the  time  of  which  we  speak, 
had  a  shingle  roof,  was  empty  of  plants,  and  is 
reported  and  believed  by  many  descendants  of  Mr. 
Beekman  to  have  been  the  spot  where  Hale  re- 
ceived his  sentence.  Be  this  as  it  may,  there  can 
be  no  question  but  that  General  Howe  had  his 
quarters  at  Mount  Pleasant  at  the  time  of  Hale's 
condemnation — and  thither,  beyond  all  reasonable 
doubt,  to  the  mansion  house,  or  the  green-house 
adjacent,  the  young  captive  was  taken.*  Here 

*  Among  other  proofs  of  the  facts  stated  in  the  text  are  the 
following. 

1.  Jerome  B.  Holgate,  in  his  American  Genealogy,  says  : 
'<  Three  miles  from  the  City  Hall  [New  York]  stands  an  old 
mansion  built  by  James  Beekman,  and  occupied  by  British  officers 
during  the  war.  One  room  near  the  head  of  the  stairs  was  occu- 
pied by  Andre,  the  night  before  he  went  up  the  River,  on  his  ill- 
fated  expedition  ;  and  (strange  Providence  !)  but  a  few  yards  dis- 


118  NATHAN     HALE. 

are   Lossing's  views  of  these   interesting   struc- 
tures !* 

tant  still  stands  the  green-house  where  Captain  Nathan  Hale  of 
the  American  army  received  his  trial  and  condemnation." 

2.  Two  letters  from  Hon.  James  W.  Beekman  of  New  York, 
grandson  of  James  Beekman  mentioned  in  the  text,  and 
present  owner  of  the  premises  in  question.  Mr.  Beekman  has 
carefully  scrutinized  all  the  circumstances  in  the  case,  and 
as  to  the  Head  Quarters  of  Gen.  Howe,  at  the  time  under  con- 
sideration, says  to  the  writer,  "  I  consider,  with  you,  the  fact  clearly 
established  that  they  were  on  the  21st  Sept.  1776,  at  my  Grand- 
father's— corner  of  fifty-first  street  and  first  avenue,  at  present." 
The  gardener  of  James  Beekman,  John  Hanna — who,  with  his 
wife  Jemima,  remained  on  the  premises  in  question,  and  kept  an 
account  of  the  dates  of  arrival  and  departure  of  the  various  British 
officers  who  occupied  the  place — made  a  cotemporaneous  record  of 
the  fact.  Here  it  is  so  for  as  relates  to  the  British  commander-in- 
chief. 

"  General  Howe  commenced  months,  i 

the  15  of  September 1776— 71      I 

*  "  I  made  the  sketch  of  the  green-house,"  says  Lossing,  "  a  few 
days  before  it  fell,  with  all  the  glories  of  the  beautiful  garden  of 
the  Beekman  mansion,  at  the  touch  of  the  Street  Commissioner, 
in  July,  1852. — This  view  of  Beekman's  mansion  is  from  the 
grounds  looking  towards  East  River.  The  fine  lawns  and  bloom- 
ing gardens  are  now  reticulated  by  city  streets." — When  the  old 


*• 


w 

NATHAX    HALE. 


THE    BEKKMAN    MANSION. 


THE    GREEN-HOUSE. 


Tall,  graceful,  dignified,  as  was  General  Howe — 
in  personal  appearance  much  resembling  "Wash- 
ington, yet  with  features  more  pointed,  and  in 
temper  sharp  and  harsh  towards  the  unfortunate 
patriots  who  fell  in  his  power — it  was  not,  we  may 
believe,  without  something  of  awe,  and  a  dark 
anticipation  of  his  fate,  that  Hale  found  himself 
ushered  into  the  sombre  presence  of  his  judge. 

The  charge  was  soon  made — the  proof  pro- 
duced. What  said  the  youthful  prisoner  then  ? 
Did  he  explain,  prevaricate,  deny — throw  himself 
on  the  laws  of  war,  and  demand  trial  by  a  Court 
Martial — that  right  accorded  to  every  military 

house  was  unfortunately  to  be  cut  across  diagonally  by  51st  Street, 
lion.  J.  W.  Beekman  safely  accomplished  its  removal.  '  I  hope,' 
he  wrote  at  that  time,  u  to  preserve  it  awhile  longer." 


* 

120  NATHAN  HALE. 

offender  save  a  mutineer?  Did  he  continue  still 
to  wear  the  semblance  of  the  Schoolmaster,  and 
inventing  time,  place,  and  namg,  resolutely  offer 
to  prove  the  genuineness  of  his  profession  ?  Or 
playing  the  loyalist  and  tory,  did  he  supplicate 
to  '  swear  in '  his  hatred  of  the  rebels,  and  his 
fealty  to  King  George  ?  Or,  taking  advantage  of 
Howe's  thirst  for  raising  provincial  troops,  and  of 
the  King's  bounty,  in  confiscated  lands,  houses, 
money,  and  in  honors,  to  those  of  his  countrymen 
who  would  recruit  the  royal  army — did  he  profess 
his  readiness  to  cooperate  thereafter,  heartily,  "  in 
suppressing  the  unnatural  rebellion  in  North 
America,"  and  at  once  for  this  purpose  to  join  the 
company  of  some  "  Eoyal  American  Eegiment,"  or 
"Prince  of  "Wales'  American  Volunteers,"  or 
"  King's  American  Dragoons"* — a  course  which, 
doubtless,  in  the  peculiar  exigency  of  the  British 
general  at  that  time,  would  have  saved  the  life  of 
the  spy,  since  we  find  it  afterwards  protecting  even 
such  malefactors  as  robbers  and  murderers  ?  f  Or, 


*  The  actual  names  of  American  regiments  raised  daring  the 
war  for  the  British  service. 

t"The  provincial  corps,"  or  soldiers  raised  in  America,  were 


NATHAN     HALE.  121 

his  young  heart  crushed  and  riven  by  the  horror 
of  his  situation — the  memories  of  home,  and  love 
of  life,  pleading  too  keenly  and  powerfully  in  his 
bosom — did  he  appeal  to  the  benignity,  the  com- 
passion, to  the  mercy  of  his  judge  ? 

Nothing — nothing  of  all  this — though  his  situa- 
tion— so  varied  are  the  chances  of  life,  such  and 
so  many  the  happy  accidents  that  snatch  us  from 
the  grave — was  not  yet  all  bereft  of  hope.  Open 
and  sincere  as  he  was  by  nature — incapable,  save 
for  the  high  patriotic  end  he  then  pursued,  of 
delusion,  and  already  overweary  probably  of 
the  burden  of  deceit — his  conscience  too,  before 
an  august  tribunal,  and  under  staggering  circum- 
stances, impelling  him,  too  sensitively  perhaps,  to 
resume  his  wonted  truthful  character — Hale 
frankly,  and  at  once,  acknowledged  his  mission — 
confessed  himself  an  American  officer  and  a  spy 

frequently  abandoned  men,  fugitives  from  justice,  who  enlisted  to 
escape  punishment.  Even  such  recruits  were  hard  to  be  obtained 
at  a  high  bounty ;  and  if  they  committed  a  crime,  the  officers  were 
both  to  lose  them,  or  give  them  up  to  punishment — to  replace  them 
was  so  difficult."  Onderdonk's  Revol.  Incidents  of  Queen's 

County,  p.  182. 

11 


122  NATHAN     HALE. 

— proudly  yet  respectfully  stated  his  success — 
bemoaned  that  his  hope  of  serving  his  country 
was  now  suddenly  cut  off — and  stood  calm  and 
fearless  before  his  judge — awaiting  his  decision. 

That  decision  was  soon  made.  A  piece  of 
paper — a  pen — ink — a  few  lines — and  under  the 
initials  of  "George  Hex,"  and  by  the  hand  and 
seal  at  arms  of  William  Howe  Commander-in- 
chief,  William  Cunningham,  Provost  Marshal  of 
the  Royal  Army,  was  directed  to  receive  into  his 
custody  the  body  of  Nathan  Hale,  a  captain  in 
the  rebel  army,  that  day  convicted  as  a  spy — and 
further,  to  see  him  hung  by  the  neck  until  dead, 
"  to-morrow-morning  at  day  break."* 

*  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  formal  warrant,  in  purport  the 
same  with  that  described  in  the  text,  was  given  by  Howe.  Such 
appertained  to  his  function  as  Commander.  Such  appertained 
to  the  function  of  Cunningham  as  Provost  Marshal.  Such 
were  entered  by  Cunningham  in  his  Records,  which  he 
habitually  kept  for  his  own  justification,  and  official  report.  That 
in  the  text  is  given,  almost  verbatim,  by  Buckingham,  the  author  of 
Revolutionary  Tales  in  the  New  York  Sunday  Times — in  his 
Sketch  of  Hale — whether  from  copy  of  the  actual  warrant,  or  from 
the  imagination  of  what  it  must  have  been,  we  know  not.  Of  its 
substantial  correctness,  however,  we  entertain  no  doubt. 


CHAPTEE  VII. 

A  reflection.  Hale  unappalled.  His  confinement  after  sentence. 
His  jailor  and  executioner,  William  Cunningham,  a  Provost 
Marshal  of  the  British  Army.  Cruel  treatment  of  Hale.  His 
gloomy  situation.  His  noble  endurance.  Writes  letters  to  his 
friends,  and  prepares  himself,  sublimely,  for  the  catastrophe.  Is 
taken  out  to  die.  The  brutal  Provost  Marshal  tauntingly  de- 
mands from  him  a  dying  speech.  That  speech  !  The  fatal  swing. 

"  To-morrow-morning  at  daybreak  1 "  How  quick 
to  die!  The  sands  of  life  left  how  few!  The 
interval  for  thought,  recollection,  for  last  memori- 
alizing wish,  if  pity  were  not  turned  to  stone,  how 
cruelly  brief !  And  yet  this  suddenness  of  sen- 
tence— these  startling  inches  only  of  life's  space 
ere  the  soul's  last  plunge — forced  not  one  word  of 
remonstrance — not  a  complaining  look — not  a 
quiver,  even  involuntary,  of  fear — from  the  con- 
demned patriot — and  under  a  strong  guard,  he 
was  borne  from  the  presence  of  his  judge. 


124:  NATHAN    HALE. 

Whither  ?  To  some  barrack,  or  tent,  or  build- 
ing adjacent  to  the  quarters  of  Howe — or  to  the 
Provost  ?  It  is  impossible  to  tell  with  any  cer- 
tainty— so  meagre  is  History  on  this  point,  and 
the  few  facts  she  offers  are  so  vague  and  conflict- 
ing.* If  confined  near  the  spot  of  his  condem- 
nation, an  armed  British  guard,  of  course,  paced 

*Yet  these  facts  incline — a  few  of  them  strongly — to  the  Provost 
as  the  prison  of  Hale.  This  building  was  then  in  use  as  a  jail.  It 
was  a  receptacle  for  offenders  who  were  most  notorious.  It  was 
the  safest  of  all  places  in  which  to  keep  a  prisoner.  It  was  adja- 
cent to  the  spot  where  public  executions  at  this  period  usually  took 
place.  Tradition,  quite  uniformly,  points  to  it  as  the  prison  of 
Hale.  Two  old  gentlemen  of  Lyme,  Connecticut,  who  died  sev- 
eral years  ago,  and  who  were  men  of  integrity,  stated,  we  are 
assured,  that  they  saw  Hale  there  the  night  before  his  execution. 
A  Hessian  straggler,  passing  through  Coventry  just  after  the  event, 
told  a  Mr.  Brigham  with  whom  he  staid  over  night,  that  he  saw 
Hale  hung  in  New  York  City,  near  Chambers  [then  Barrack] 
street.  Upon  the  whole  we  are  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  the 
Provost  was  his  prison — and  a  spot  adjoining,  the  place  of  execu- 
tion— though  the  facility  with  which  executions  were  effected  at 
this  period — upon  a  tree,  or  at  a  lamp  post — at  the  first  convenient 
point — in  or  out  of  the  presence  of  the  Army — and  the  distance 
of  three  miles  which  intervened  between  Hale's  place  of  trial  and 


NATHAN    HALE.  125 

around  him,  and  clattered  their  muskets,  and  rung 
their  dread  watchwords  in  upon  his  bondage. 
But  if  taken  down  to  the  Provost,  as  was  most 
probably  the  case,  the  ear  of  the  captive  was  filled 
and  agonized  with  other  and  more  afflictive 
sounds — with  the  echo  of  bolts  and  bars  through 
black  prison  vaults — with  the  ceaseless  clank  of 
chains — with  the  wail  of  captive  countrymen  of 
his  own — and  with  the  felon's  muttered  curse. 

It  was  a  gloomy,  terrific  abode  indeed — that 
jail — the  Provost !  Destined  for  the  more  notori- 
ous rebels,  civil,  naval,  and  military — it  stood 
upon  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Park,  about 
midway,  at  a  time  when  this  enclosure  had  within 
it  neither  City  Hall  or  Almshouse.  The  building 
stands  there  now — and  is  the  present  Hall  of  Rec- 
ords. Two  sentinels  guarded,  day  and  night,  its 
entrance  door.  Two  more  were  posted  at  its  first 
and  second  barricades,  which  were  grated,  barred, 
and  chained.  Others  watched  at  its  rear  door,  or 


the  Provost — and  the  fact  that  Cunningham  often  moved  about 
with  the  British  army,  from  place  to  place — cause  our  judgment 

in  the  matter  somewhat  to  waver. 
11* 


126  NATHAN     HALE. 

upon  platforms  on  flights  of  steps  which  led  to 
rooms  and  cells  in  the  second  and  third  stories. 
Here  is  the  building  as  it  looked  at  the  time  I* 


TUB    PROVOST   JAIL. 


It  was  a  small  stone  structure,  nearly  square  in 
form — and  was  surrounded  by  a  yard — back  of 
which — on  the  present  site  of  the  old  Alms- 
house — was  a  range  of  barracks — and  beyond 
these,  on  the  upper  side  of  Chambers  street 
between  Broadway  and  Centre,  an  old  Burying- 
yard,  which  long  served  both  as  a  place  of  execu- 
tion, and  as  a  last  resting-place  for  the  dead 
of  the  neighboring  prison.  At  the  time  of  which 


*  From  a  picture  by  B.  J.  Lossing  Esquire,  who  remarks  that 
"  the  northwest  chamber,  on  the  second  floor,  was  devoted  to  offi- 
cers and  civilians  of  highest  rank,  and  was  called,  in  derision, 
Congress  Hall." 


XATHANHALE.  127 

we  speak,  it  was  under  the  charge  of  a  Commis- 
sary to  whom  we  have  already  alluded — William 
Cunningham — a  man  than  whom  none  more  infa- 
mous for  cruelty  ever  disgraced  the  annals  of 
any  prison  upon  earth.*  Associated  as  he  darkly 
was  with  the  patriot  whose  fate  we  commemorate, 
let  us  pause  here  just  a  moment  for  his  portrait. 

A  large,  lusty  Irishman — of  rough,  forbidding 
aspect — having  served  early  in  life  in  the  British 
Dragoons,  he  came  to  New  York  before  the  Kev- 
olution,  and  when  the  war  broke  out,  becoming 
at  once  a  tory  and  a  renegade,  joined  Sir  William 

*  Unless  it  have  been  Sergeant  O'Keefe,  his  "  deputy  in  office 
and  in  cruelty." — "  The  late  venerable  John  Pintard,"  writes  Los- 
sing,  "  related  the  following  anecdote  of  O'Keefe  :  As  the  Amer- 
icans were  moving  down  Chatham  to  Pearl  Street,  on  the  day  of 
the  British  evacuation,  O'Keefe  thought  it  time  for  him  to  depart. 
A  few  British  subjects,  convicted  of  various  crimes,  were  yet  in 
his  custody.  As  he  was  leaving,  one  of  them  inquired,  "  Ser- 
geant, what  is  to  become  of  us  ?" — "  You  may  all  go  to  the  devil," 
he  replied,  in  anger,  as  he  threw  the  keys  upon  the  floor  behind 
him.  "  Thank  you,  sergeant,"  was  the  answer ;  "  we  have  had 
too  much  of  your  company  in  this  world  to  follow  you  to  the 
next." 


128  NATHAN    HALE. 

Howe,  and  was  by  him  appointed  Provost  Mar- 
shal of  the  British  army.  Avaricious— cruelly 
so— he  at  times  dosed  his  prisoners  with  arsenic 
in  their  flour,  "for  the  sake  of  cheating  his  king 
and  country  by  continuing  for  a  time  to  draw 
their  nominal  rations."*  Wonted  to  sit  in  his 
quarters  at  the  Provost,  opposite  the  guard-room 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  main  door,  and  drink 
punch  till  his  brain  was  on  fire — he  would  then 
stagger  out  into  the  corridors — followed  often  by 
his  negro  Eichmond,  the  common  hangman,  with 
coils  of  rope  about  his  neck — and  pouring  forth 


*  He  was  only  restrained  from  putting  them  to  death  in  a 
more  violent  way,  it  is  said,  "  five  or  six  of  them  of  a  night, 
back  of  the  prison  yard,  by  the  distress  of  certain  women  in  the 
neighborhood,  who,  pained  by  the  cries  for  mercy  which  they 
heard,  went  to  the  Commander-in-chief,  and  made  the  case  known, 
with  entreaties  to  spare  the  lives  of  the  sufferers  in  future." 
Wataons's  Olden  Times  in  the  City  of  New  York. 

"  When  flesh  and  blood  were  wanting,  effigies  were  often  sus- 
pended on  that  gibbet,"  says  Lossing,  speaking  of  Cunningham's 
gibbet,  in  the  rear  of  the  Provost — "  and  for  a  long  time  a  tolera- 
bly correct  portrait  of  John  Hancock  might  be  seen  dangling  from 
the  cross-beams." 


NATHAN    HALE.  129 

volleys  of  tempestuous  abuse  on  the  wretched 
sufferers  who  happened  to  be  outside  their  cells, 
drive  the  "  dogs,"  as  he  called  them,  back  to  their 
"  kennels,"  the  "  rebel  spawn,"  as  he  varied  it,  "in 
to  their  holes  " — or  vent  his  spite,  as  he  passed 
up  and  down  the  hall  by  kicking  over  vessels  of 
soup  which  the  charitable  sometimes  placed  there 
for  poor  and  friendless  captives — or  clanking  his 
keys,  reel  to  the  door  of  the  prison,  and  strain 
his  drunken  gaze  for  fresh  victims.  Such  another 
victim — on  the  night  of  the  twenty -first  of  Sep- 
tember, 1776— either  at  the  Provost,  or  at  the 
head  quarters  of  General  Howe — he  found  in 
Captain  Nathan  Hale — and  such  was  the  ruffian 
jailor  and  executioner  whom  Hale  found  in  Wil- 
liam Cunningham! 

On  receiving  his  prisoner,  Cunningham,  accor- 
ding to  his  custom,  questioned  him  minutely  as 
to  his  name,  rank,  size,  and  age,*  read  the  warrant 
for  his  death,  and  ordered  him  to  be  rigidly  con- 

*  "  When  a  prisoner,  escorted  by  soldiers,  was  led  into  the  hall, 
the  whole  ^uard  was  paraded,  and  he  was  delivered  over,  with  all 
formality,  to  Cap!.  Cunningham  or  his  deputy,  and  questioned  as 


130  NATHAN     HALE. 

fined.  Hale  calmly  requested  that  his  hands 
might  be  unpinioned,  and  that  he  might  be  fur- 
nished with  writing  materials  and  a  light.  He 
wanted,  he  said,  to  address  a  few  lines  to  his 
parents  and  friends.  The  request  was  at  first 
brutally  refused.  He  asked  for  a  Bible,  that  he, 
a  dying  man,  might  receive  the  last  holy  consola- 
tions of  the  religion  which  he  professed.  This 
request  too  was  met  at  first  with  coarse  denial — 
with  curses  too,  it  is  highly  probable,  on  the  stu- 
pidity of  last  hour  repentances,  and  impious  taunts 
of  tortures  beyond  the  grave  for  all  traitors  to 
their  king.*  But  there  was  one  heart  near,  which 


to  his  name,  rank,  size,  age,  &c.,  all  of  which  were  entered  in  a 
record-book."     Dunlap's  Hist.  N.  York,  Vol.  //.,  p.  137. 

*  Cunningham's  brutal  demeanor  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the 
case  of  another  son  of  Connecticut,  the  Rev.  Moses  Mather  D.  £>., 
of  Daricn,  Conn.  This  exemplary  and  distinguished  divine,  July 
twenty-second,  1781,  was  taken  captive  with  about  forty  of  his 
congregation,  while  worshipping  on  the  Sabbath,  by  a  party  of 
British  troops  consisting  chiefly  of  tory  refugees,  which  came 
over  from  Long  Island,  and  suddenly  surrounded  the  Church. 
The  following  extract  from  Barber's  Historical  Collections  of 
Connecticut,  shows  his  subsequent  treatment. 


NATHAN     HALE.  131 

for  a  moment  throbbed  with  pity  for  the  pris- 
oner— so  young,  so  graceful,  so  treated,  yet  so 
mild,  so  firm,  so  soon  to  die,  and — alone !  Moved 
in  spite  of  himself,  the  young  Lieutenant  of  Bale's 
guard  interfered  in  his  behalf,  it  is  said,  earn- 
estly— and  was  so  far  successful  as  to  procure  for 
him  the  privilege  of  writing.  With  pen,  ink  and 
paper  therefore,  a  light,  and  hands  unmanacled, 
he  was  thrust,  late  it  would  seem  in  the  night, 
into  some  separate  abode^— some  lonely  tent— or 
gloomy  barrack — or  desolate  chamber — or  grated 
cell — and  for  awhile,  was  left  to  himself. 


"  Dr.  Mather  having  been  taken  into  New  York,  was  confined 
in  the  Provost  Prison.  Here  his  food  was  stinted,  and  wretched 
to  a  degree  not  easily  imaginable.  His  lodging  corresponded 
with  his  food.  His  company,  to  a  considerable  extent,  was  made 
up  of  mere  rabble ;  and  their  conversation,  from  which  he  could 
not  retreat,  was  composed  of  profaneness  and  ribaldry.  Here 
also  he  was  insulted  daily  by  the  Provost  Marshal,  whose  name 
was  Cunningham — a  wretch  remembered  in  this  country  only 
with  detestation.  This  wretch,  with  other  kinds  of  abuse,  took  a 
particular  satisfaction  in  announcing  from  time  to  time  to  Dr. 
Mather,  that  on  that  day,  the  morrow,  or  some  other  time  at  a 
little  distance,  he  was  to  be  executed. 


132  NATHAN    HALE. 

There,  without  a  friend — without  the  solace  of 
even  one  kind  word — without  the  glimmer  even 
of  a  hope  of  escape — on  the  verge  of  an  ignomi- 
nious death — for  the  last  time,  to  transcribe  for 
those  he  loved  the  deep  emotions  of  his  heart ! 

"  But  Dr.  Mather  was  not  without  his  friends — friends,  how- 
ever, who  knew  nothing  of  him,  except  his  character.  A  lady  of 
distinction,  [the  mother  of  Washington  Irving,  according  to  infor- 
mation obtained  in  Dai-ion.* |  having  learned  his  circumstances, 
and  having  obtained  the  necessary  permission,  sent  to  him  clothes 
and  food,  and  comforts,  with  a  very  liberal  hand.  He  died  Sept. 
21st,  1806,  venerated  by  all  who  knew  him,  in  the  88th  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  of  which  he  was  a 
Fellow  thirteen  years." 

*  "  The  foot  you  state  in  a  note  concerning  my  mother" — says 
Washington  Irving  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  Feb.  16th,  1856,  "is 
no  doubt  correct.  I  know  that  she  was  in  the  practice  of  relieving 
American  prisoners,  especially  clergymen ;  sometimes  visiting 
them  in  person,  at  other  times  sending  them  supplies.  I  have 
often  heard  her  relate  instances  of  it,  and  of  the  kind  of  surly 
indulgence  with  which  she  was  treated  by  the  brute  Cunningham. 
On  one  occasion  when  she  asked  his  permission  to  send  in  food 
and  raiment  to  a  clergyman  just  brought  in  a  prisoner — "  with  all 
my  heart  madam,"  was  the  reply  ;  "  but  I  would  much  rather 
you  would  send  him  a  rope."  That  was  Cunningham's  style  of 
pleasantry  when  he  was  in  a  gracious  mood." 


NATHAN    HALE.  133 

There  in  the  dread  twilight  of  eternity — not  as 
it  creeps  mantling  with  silver  over  the  sick  man's 
tended  couch — but  as  it  wears  the  scaffold's 
ghastly  hue — to  commune  with  his  soul,  and  with 
his  God  ! — What  a  night  to  Hale  ! 

The  hours  flew  as  seconds.  Weeks  and  months 
to  one  death -doomed,  endure  but  as  single  sands 
ebbing  in  Time's  smallest  glass.  Light  runs  into 
shade,  and  shade  into  light,  with  scarce  a  grada- 
tion marked  by  that  eye  on  which  all  light  and 
shade  are  soon  to  close  forever.  But  quick  as 
must  have  passed  to  Hale  his  prison  hours,  there 
was  one  to  whom  these  hours  doubtless  seemed 
laggard — he  to  whose  hands  the  captive  was  con- 
signed— and  the  deeper  shadows  of  the  night  had 
scarce  faded  into  misty  gray,  the  rose  of  an 
autumn  sun,  low  and  faint,  but  just  begun  to  blush 
in  the  east,  when  the  executioner  sought  his  vic- 
tim. It  was  morning — daybreak — morning  too 
of  the  '  hallowed  day' — but  War  knows  no  Sab- 
baths— the  fatal  hour  had  come ! 

Cunningham  found  Hale  ready.     Doubtful  it  is 

if  on  that  straw,  or  rug,  or  coarse  blanket,  or 
12 


134  NATHAN    HALE. 

"  oaken  plank,"  which  formed  his  bed,*  he  had 
slept  at  all — the  thoughts  of  home  and  death 
rushing,  as  they  must  have  done,  impetuousl}7-  on 
his  nerves.  He  handed  the  letters  he  had  written 
to  the  Provost  Marshal  for  ultimate  delivery — 
one  certainly  to  his  mother — another,  it  is  said,  to 
his  sisters — a  third  probably  to  the  lady  to  whom 
he  was  betrothed — or  perhaps  his  messages  to  all 
may  have  occupied  a  single  letter,  or  a  single 
sheet.  Be  this  as  it  may,  what  he  had  written 
was  at  once  insolently  scrutinized  by  Cunning- 
ham, who,  as  he  read,  grew  furious  at  the  noble 
spirit  which  breathed  in  every  line  of  the  compo- 
sition— and  for  the  reason — afterwards  given  by 
himself — "  that  the  rebels  should  never  know  they  had 
a  man  who  could  die  with  such  firmness"  he  tore 
the  paper  into  shreds,  and  ordered  his  victim  to 
begin  his  death  march. 


*  "  An  oaken  plank,  it  was  our  bed, 

And  very  scanty  we  were  fed." 

From  Peter  St.  John's  account — one  of  the  Provost  prison- 
ers, and  captured  at  Darien,  Conn.,  with  the  Rev.  Moses  Ma- 
ther D.  D.j  and  others. 


NATHAN     HALE.  135 

That  march. — its  accompaniments — the  place  of 
the  scaffold — its  preparations — the  scene  around 
it — these  are  points  upon  which  history  does  not 
throw  much  light,  yet  enough  materially  to  aid 
conjecture.  The  general  practice  in  executions, 
at  this  period,  and  particularly  Cunningham's,  we 
have  ascertained  from  various  sources.*  That 


*  In  1782,  two  British  soldiers,  named  Tench  and  Porter,  were 
hung  at  the  Wallabout,  on  a  chestnut  tree,  for  robbing  and  mur- 
dering a  farmer  of  Flushing  named  James  Hedges.  Cunning- 
ham presided  over  the  execution,  which  took  place  in  the  presence 
of  a  large  detachment  of  the  British  Army.  The  late  venerable 
General  Jeremiah  Johnson  of  Brooklyn,  L.  I.,  witnessed  it,  and 
in  a  letter  to  the  writer  describes  it  as  below.  The  extract  we 
give  materially  aids  our  conception  both  of  the  manner  in  which 
an  execution  was  conducted  in  the  times  of  which  we  speak,  and 
of  the  Provost  Marshal,  with  his  black  hangman. 

"  The  execution,"  writes  General  Johnson,  "  was  conducted  as 
follows.  At  10  A.  M.,  about  1000  men  were  marched  to  the 
place  of  execution,  and  formed  a  hollow  square,  which  enclosed 
a  large  chestnut  tree  on  the  land  (then)  of  Martin  Schenck.  A 
short  time  after  the  square  was  formed,  Cunningham,  followed  by 
his  mulatto  negro  hangman,  who  carried  a  ladder  and  cords, 
entered  the  square.  The  negro  placed  the  ladder  against  an  hor- 
izontal limb  of  the  tree,  which  was  about  15  feet  from  the  ground. 


136  NATHAN     HALE. 

they  were  conducted  chiefly  in  an  old  graveyard 
near  the  Provost,  in  Chambers  [then  Barrack] 
Street,  is  a  fact  well  made  out.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  this  was  the  spot  of  Hale's  suffer- 
ing— though  it  may  have  been  elsewhere — above 
the  city — and  on  some  tree  near  the  place  of  his 
trial.  As  a  spy,  his  execution  would,  of  course, 
be  public — we  know  that  it  was  so — would  be 

• 

attended  with  the  ordinary  formalities — all  that 

He  then  ascended  the  ladder,  and  adjusted  one  halter.  He  then 
moved  the  ladder  about  four  feet,  and  adjusted  the  second  halter. 
The  nooses  dropped  about  five  feet.  A  short  time  after  the  hal- 
ters were  adjusted,  the  criminals  were  escorted  into  the  square. 
Their  arms  were  pinioned,  and  they  were  dressed  in  white  jack- 
ets, and  white  overhauls,  and  they  wore  white  caps.  Tench 
ascended  the  ladder  first,  and  the  hangman  stepped  up  close 
behind  him,  and  fixed  the  halter  around  the  culprit's  neck,  drew 
the  cap  over  his  face,  descended,  and  immediately  turned  the  man 
off  the  ladder,  when  he  hung  about  five  feet  above  ground. 
The  ladder  was  then  placed  at  the  second  halter.  Porter 
ascended  the  steps  firmly,  followed  by  the  negro,  who  fixed  the 
halter,  drew  down  the  cap,  descended,  and  immediately  turned 
Porter  off  towards  Tench.  The  bodies  struck  against  each  other, 
and  dangled  some  time  before  they  were  still.  The  men  strug- 
gled little  in  dying. 


NATHAN    HALE.  137 

were  calculated  to  strike  terror — and  with  many 
in  addition,  for  the  purpose  of  accumulating  dis- 
grace— and  in  the  case  under  consideration,  we 
know,  luas  accompanied  with  every  contrivance 
which  brutality  could  suggest  to  wound  the  sensi- 
bilities of  the  victim.* 


''  The  field  and  staff  officers  were  stationed  inside  the  square. 
After  the  execution,  I  saw  Cunningham  go  to  the  commanding 
officer  (said  to  be  Grey,)  to  whom  I  suppose  he  reported,  and  who 
appeared  to  treat  him  with  contempt.  The  troops  marched  off  to 
their  camp.  The  dead  bodies  were  taken  down,  and  buried  under 
the  tree." 

*  Among.othef  testimony  in  proof  of  the  fact  stated  in  the  text 
is  the  following.  Tunis  Bogart,  an  honest  farmer  of  Long 
Island,  who  for  five  weeks  remained  impressed  as  a  wagoner  in 
the  British  service,  witnessed  Hale's  execution.  In  1784,  being 
asked  to  witness  another  execution  then  about  to  take  place,  he 
replied  :  "  No — I  have  seen  one  man  hung,  a  spy,  [alluding  to 
Hale,]  and  that's  enough  for  me.  I  have  never  been  able  to 
efface  the  scene  of  horror  from  my  mind — it  rises  up  to  my 
imagination  always.  That  old  '  Devil  Catcher '  Cunningham  was 
so  brutal,  and  hung  him  up  as  a  butcher  would  a  calf!  The 
women  sobbed  aloud,  and  Cunningham  swore  at  them  for  it,  and 
told  them  they  would  likely  enough  themselves  come  to  the  same 
fate." 

12* 


138  NATHAN     HALE. 

His  arms  then,  probably,  pinioned  close  behind 
him — over  his  body  a  coarse  white  gown  or 
jacket  trimmed  with  black,  the  winding  sheet  of 
the  scaffold — on  his  head  a  cap  of  white,  trimmed 
too  with  black — near  him  a  box  of  rough  pine 
boards,  his  coffin,  borne  in  a  cart,  or  upon  the 
shoulders  of  attendants — before  him  a  guard  lead- 
ing the  way — behind  him  another  guard  with 
loaded  muskets  and  fixed  bayonets — in  the  rear 
of  these  Cunningham  himself,  with  other  officers, 
as  formal  witnesses  of  the  event — and  near, 
mulatto  Richmond,  the  common  hangman  of  the 
Provost,  bearing  a  ladder,  and  with  a  coil  of  rope 
about  his  neck — such  were  the  circumstances,  it 
may  fairly  be  presumed,  under  which  Hale  moved 
to  the  place  of  his  execution — there  where  some 
tree  sent  out  from  its  ill-omened  trunk  a  rigid 
horizontal  limb,  or  where  from  among  the  bones 
of  those  already  dead,  two  straight  poles,  sup- 
porting a  cross  beam  in  their  crotches,  shot  into 
the  air — and  where,  just  beneath,  a  heap  of  earth, 
thrown  freshly  out,  marked  a  new-made  grave. 

Early  morning  as  it  was,  the  sun  hardly  risen, 


NATHAN     HALE.  139 

yet  quite  a  crowd  was  collected  around  the  spot — 
many  whom  the  fire  in  the  city  had  kept  out  of 
their  beds  all  night — men  and  women — a  few 
American  wagoners,  who,  impressed  from  Long 
Island  into  the  British  forage  service,  happened 
to  be  in  town — some  soldiers  and  officers  of  the 
royal  army,  and  among  these  last  that  officer  of 
the  British  Commissariat  Department,  whose  sub- 
sequent narrative  of  the  circumstances  to  General 
Hull  forms  one  of  our  chief  sources  of  informa- 
tion. But  in  all  that  crowd  there  was  not  one 
face  familiar  to  Hale — not  one  voice  to  whisper  a 
word  of  consolation  to  his  dying  agony.  Yet 
though  without  a  friend  whom  he  knew — though 
denied  that  privilege  granted  usually  to  the  mean- 
est criminal,  the  attendance  of  a  chaplain — though 
degraded  by  every  external  mark  of  ignominy — 
yet  did  his  spirit  not  give  way.  His  gait,  as  he 
approached  the  gallows,  in  spite  of  his  pinioned 
arms,  was  upright  and  steady.  No  offending 
soldier  to  whom  the  choicer  penalty  has  been 
assigned  to  receive  the  shot  of  his  comrades,  ever, 
in  the  midst  of  sympathy,  and  with  the  consci- 


140  NATHAN    HALE. 

ousness  that  lie  was  allowed  at  least  a  soldier's 
death,  marched  more  firmly  to  kneel  upon  his 
coffin  than  did  Hale  to  meet  the  felon's  doom. 
Through  all  the  horror  of  his  situation  he  main- 
tained a  deportment  so  dignified,  a  resolution  so 
calm,  a  spirit  so  exalted  by  Christian  readiness 
to  meet  his  fate,  and  by  the  consciousness  of 
duty  done,  and  done  in  the  holy  cause  of  his 
country,  that  his  face,  we  cannot  but  think, 
must  have  worn '  almost  the  aspect  of  a  ser- 
aph's— lifted  as  it  was  at  frequent  intervals  to 
heaven,  and  so  radiant  with  hope,  heroism,  and 
resignation. 

Thus  looking,  he  stood  at  last — the  few  simple 
preparations  being  ended — elevated  on  one  of  the 
rounds  of  the  gallows  ladder — ready  for  the  fatal 
fall.  The  coarse  voice  of  Cunningham,  whose 
eye  watched  every  arrangement,  was  now  heard 
scoffingly  demanding  from  his  victim  his  dying 
speech  and  confession^" — as  if  hoping  that  the 


•That such  a  demand  was  made  by  Cunningham,  rests  chiefly 
on  the  statement  of  the  late  H.  A.  Buckingham  Esq.,  of  New 
York.  He  assured  us  that  he  received  it  from  unquestionable 


NATHAN     HALE.  141 

chaos  of  Hale's  soul  at  that  awful  moment, 
would  lead  him  to  utter  some  remark,  strange 
or  ridiculous,  which  might  serve  to  glut  the 
curiosity  of  the  crowd,  or  be  remembered  as  a 
kind  of  self-made  epitaph  by  a  'rebel  captain.' 
Never  was  torturer  more  cheated  of  his  pur- 
pose— never  a  victim  endowed  with  utterance 
more  sublime !  One  glance,  it  is  said,  at  Cun- 
ningham— one  slight  momentary  contraction  of 
his  features  into  contempt — and  he  turned  his 
look,  filled  again  with  holy  energy  and  sweetness 
upon  the  spectators — now  impressed,  most  of 
them,  with  solemn  awe — and  some  of  them,  the 
females,  not  forbearing  to  sob  aloud.  With  a 
voice  full,  distinct,  slow — which  came  mournfully 
thrilling  from  the  very  depths  of  his  being — in 
words  which  patriotism  will  forever  enshrine,  and 

authority,  having  consulted,  as  we  know  he  did,  very  many  aged 
persons  in  New  York  who  were  conversant  with  it,  and  with  some 
other  particulars  regarding  the  execution  of  Hale.  We  see  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  statement,  but  on  the  other  hand,  we  perceive 
everything  in  the  character  and  conduct  of  Cunningham  to  cor- 
roborate it  amply. 


142  NATHAN     HALE. 

every  monument  to  Hale's  memory  sink  deepest 
into  its  stone,  and  every  temple  of  liberty  blazon 
highest  on  its  entablature — at  the  very  moment 
when  the  tightening  knotted  cord  was  to  crush 
the  life  from  his  young  body  forever — he  ejacu- 
lated— as  the  last  immortal  testament  of  his  he- 
roic soul  to  the  world  he  was  leaving — 

"  I  onlg  regret  ttyat  1  I) at) e  but  cue  life  to  lose 
for  ntg  cotratrg!" 

Maddened  to  hear  a  sentiment  so  sublime  burst 
from  the  lips  of  the  sufferer,  and  to  witness  visi- 
ble signs  of  sympathy  among  the  crowd,  Cun- 
ningham instantly  shouted  for  the  catastrophe  to 
close. — "  Swing  the  rebel  off!" — we  conceive  we 
hear  him  vociferating  even  now — "swing  him 
off!"  The  ladder  disappeared — the  cord  strained 
from  the  creaking  beam  or  bough — and  with  a 
sudden  jerk,  the  body  of  Hale  dangled  convul- 
sively in  the  air.  A  few  minutes  fluttering  to 
and  fro — a  few  heavings  of  its  noble  chest — its 


NATHAN     HALE.  143 

manly  limbs  at  moments  sharply  bent  by  the 
pang — it  at  last  hung  straight  and  motionless  from 
its  support. 

All  was  still  as  the  chambers  of  death 

Stye  0onl  of  t!)*  Martyr  ijair  fUb! 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Effect  of  Hale's  death — upon  Gen.  Washington — upon  the  Ameri- 
can army — upon  his  relatives,  and  friends  elsewhere — upon  his 
camp  attendant,  Asher  Wright.  Deep  and  general  mourning. 
The  Hale  Monument  Association.  The  Monument.  Extracts 
from  poetry  in  memory  of  Hale.  An  epitaph  by  a  friend. 
Comparison  between  Hale  and  Andre.  Conclusion. 

THE  death  of  Hale  was  deemed  of  sufficient 
importance,  in  the  British  army,  to  demand  its 
formal  notification  to  the  American  Commander- 
in-chief.  From  a  motive  probably  of  military 
policy — that  the  capture  and  summary  execution, 
at  the  hands  of  British  vigilance,  of  an  American 
spy,  might  operate  as  an  example  and  a  warning 
upon  the  American  army — Colonel  Montaznar  of 
the  royal  forces  was  deputed,  under  a  flag  of  truce, 
to  announce  the  event  to  General  Washington. 
He  fulfilled  his  mission.  The  melancholy  tidings 
were  received — with  what  sorrow,  with  what  sym- 


NATHAN     HALE.  145 

pathy,  on  the  part  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  we 
are  left  in  great  degree  to  conjecture.  "Washing- 
ton's grief,  however,  must  have  been  profound — 
for  he  was  a  man  himself  instinct  with  sensibility, 
and  Hale,  we  learn  from  various  sources,  was  one 
of  his  favorites.  In  the  camp  at  Cambridge,  he 
had  met  him  in  the  tents  of  those  generals  in  the 
army  with  whom  Hale  was  familiar,  and  at  vari- 
ous places  upon  the  field  of  encampment,  and  at 
his  own  Head  Quarters.  He  had  noticed  particu- 
larly his  skill  in  discipline,  and  the  excellent 
appearance  of  his  company  on  parade — and  was 
gratified  with  the  numerous  evidences  which  the 
young  officer  gave  of  intelligence,  patriotism,  and 
activity.  Moreover,  it  was  at  his  own  instigation 
that  Hale  had  been  employed  upon  the  perilous 
mission  in  which  he  had  lost  his  life. 

A  cloud  then,  we  doubt  not,  settled  on  his  spirits 
when  the  report  first  reached  him  of  Hale's  fate — 
and  upon  the  spirits  too  of  the  American  army 
generally,  wherever,  from  rank  to  rank,  from 
soldier  to  soldier,  the  sad  news  was  circulated. 

Hale's  acquaintances  in  camp  were  very  numerous. 
13 


146  NATHAN    HALE. 

The  soldiers  of  his  own  regiment  all  knew  him. 
He  was  known  also  to  many  of  other  regiments. 
He  had  many  intimate  friends  among  the  officers. 
All  loved  him.  The  blow  which  severed  him  from 
his  military  companions,  therefore,  was  extensively 
felt,  and  was  universally  lamented.  And  to  his 
own  family — to  his  doating  parents  particularly,* 
and  a  large  circle  of  relatives  and  friends,  to  whom 
he  was  clasped  in  affection  by  hooks  of  steel — 
what  a  bereavement!  Every  face,  within  this 
circle  particularly, 

"  Bearing  its  deadly  sorrow  charactered," 

was  a  face  of  despondency.  Death  could  hardly 
have  struck  down  a  more  shining  mark — its  fatal 
dart  have  hardly  pierced  one  nobler  bosom — its 
rude,  inexorable  blast  have  scarcely  nipped  one 
fairer  bud  of  promise,  f  But  upon  no  one  did  the 

*  "  It  almost  killed  his  father  and  mother,"  said  a  lady,  who 
witnessed  their  agony,  to  the  late  Professor  Kingsley  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, our  informant. 

t "  Those  who  knew  Capt.  Hale  in  New  London,"  says  Miss 
Caulkins  in  her  History  of  this  town,  "  have  described  him  as  a 


NATHAN     HALE.  147 

news  fall  with  more  stunning  effect  than  upon 
poor  Asher  Wright — Hale's  faithful  attendant  in 
camp.  It  completely  unstrung  his  nerves.  It 
impaired  his  self-control.  And  he  wore  the  pall 
of  a  somewhat  shattered  understanding  down  to 
his  grave.*  Back  to  the  mansion  of  Deacon 


man  of  many  agreeable  qualities •,  frank  and  independent  in  his 
bearing ;  social,  animated,  ardent,  a  lover  of  the  society  of  ladies, 
and  a  favorite  among  them.  Many  a  fair  cheek  was  wet  with  bit- 
ter tears,  and  gentle  voices  uttered  deep  execrations  on  his  barbar- 
ous foes,  when  tidings  of  his  untimely  fate  were  received." 

*  We  commend  the  following  extracts  from  a  letter  addressed  to 
us  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Hale  Monument  Association,  J.  "W. 
Boynton  Esq.,  of  Coventry,  to  the  notice  of  the  Reader.  They 
furnish  very  interesting  particulars  about  "  poor  Asher." 

"  It  is  said  that  Wright  was  never  in  a  sound  mind  after  the  sad 
fate  of  Hale  was  made  known  to  him.  He  was  left  in  charge  of 
Hale's  uniform,  at  his  quarters  in  New  York.  When  the  British 
crossed  over  to  the  city,  Wright  had  much  difficulty  in  obtaining 
a  team  to  remove  the  effects  of  Hale,  and  came  near  being  taken, 
and  often  said  that  he  would  not  have  left  without  the  effects, 
although  he  might  have  been  captured  by  the  British. 

"  Wright  did  not  return  to  Coventry  for  some  years  after  he 
was  discharged  from  service,  and  it  was  ever  supposed  that  the  fate 
of  Hale,  and  the  deranged  state  of  mind  consequent  upon  it,  were 


148  NATHAN    HALE. 

Kichard  Hale,  on  his  return  to  Coventry,  he  bore 
treasured  memorials  of  his  beloved  employer — 
some  articles  which  Hale,  when  he  last  parted 
with  him,  had  left  in  his  custody — and  among 
these,  particularly,  Hale's  Camp-Basket  and  Camp- 
Book — pictures  of  which  the  print  opposite  accu- 
rately presents — and  which,  now  that  we  are  indit- 
ing this  paragraph,  melancholy  remembrancers 
indeed,  rest  upon  the  table  by  our  side.  How 
vividly  do  they  call  up  the  image  of  the  youthful 
martyr — how  bring 

"  Back  on  the  heart  the  weight  that  it  would  fling 
Aside  forever  " — 

the  causes.  Until  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  could  not  converse 
upon  the  subject  without  weeping. 

"His  grave  is  about  150  feet  directly  north  of  the  monument 
of  Hale,  and  about  30  feet  north-west  of  the  graves  of  the  Hale 
family;  and  a  plain  marble  slab,  erected  by  his  administrator, 
bears  the  following  inscription : 

AMIKK   WRIGHT 

A       REVOLUTIONARY 

SOLDIER   AND 
ATTENDANT      OF 

Captain   Nathan   Hale, 


NATHAN    HALE.  149 

yet  a  weight  not  all  made  up  of  sadness,  but  rain- 
bow-tinted at  least  with  one  inspiring  joy — joy 
that  our  Country,  in  one  of  her  agonies  of  dis- 
tress—  when  she  stretched  out  her  shattered 
imploring  hands  for  a  service  from  which  all  others 
shrank  away — found  one  Soul  from  the  russet 
shades  of  old  Connecticut  heroic  enough,  taking 
the  cross  upon  his  own  shoulders,  for  her  sake  to 
do,  and  dare,  and  die !  * 

That  in  the  midst  of  a  grief  so  general  and 
poignant  as  that  which  we  describe,  so  little  pub- 


DIED 

JUNE  20th  1844 

AGED    90. 

"  Asher  Wright  received  a  pension  of  $96  per  annum.  David 
Hale,  of  New  York,  was  at  all  times  rendering  assistance  to  him, 
not  only  by  a  needful  supply  of  provisions,  but  also  by  repairs  upon 
his  dwelling  house.  He  was  also  often  remembered  by  Mr.  Hale's 
family  in  seasonable  donations  of  clothing,  &c.  &c." 

*The  Camp-Basket  is  made  of  ozier,  neatly  intertwined.  It  is 
divided  into  two  compartments  by  a  partition  in  the  centre.  The 
interior  is  carefully  lined  with  plaited  straw,  and  fragments  of  glass, 
the  debris  of  bottles,  that  when  whole  belonged  to  Hale,  still 

remain  within  it. 
13* 


150  NATHAN    HALE. 

lie  record  should  have  been  preserved  of  a  man 
so  note-worthy  as  Hale,  excites  our  surprise.* 
Strange  that  he  should  not  have  been  signalized, 
in  his  own  day  and  time,  by  appropriate  obsequies, 
by  funereal  devices,  by  solemn  eulogies,  by  reso- 
lutions expressive  of  his  merits,  by  tablets  of  brass, 
and  durable  monuments  of  stone.  Surely  no  one 
of  all  those  who  shed  their  blood  for  the  glorious 
liberty  we  now  enjoy,  better  deserved  to  have 
been  thus  commemorated — for  upon  no  one,  save 
himself,  devolved  a  task  so  perilous,  bitter,  and 
fatal.  Thirty-three  years  after  his  death,  a  fort  in 


*  Take  the  following  specimens  of  the  meagreness  of  records.  1 . 
Extract  from  a  letter  of  an  American  officer  to  his  friend,  dated 
Harlem,  September  twenty-sixth,  1776,  and  published  in  the  Bos- 
ton Gazette,  October  seventh,  1776 — "  One  Hale,  on  suspicion  of 
being  a  spy,  was  taken  up,  and  dragged  without  ceremony  to  the 
execution  post,  and  hung  up."  2.  Extract  from  a  letter  written 
September  twenty-fifth,  1776,  by  James  Drewett,  on  board  the 
British  frigate  Mercury — "  On  the  22nd  we  hung  a  man  who  was 
sent  as  a  spy  by  Gen.  Washington."  3.  Extract  from  a  letter 
written  by  a  British  officer,  and  published  in  the  Middlesex  [Lon- 
don] Journal,  No.  1196,  December,  1776 — "  New  York  Island, 
Sept.  23,  1776.  Yesterday  we  hanged  n.n  officer  of  the  Provin- 
cials who  came  as  a  spy." 


NATHAN    HALE.  151 

the  harbor  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut — built  of 
brick  upon  an  insulated  rock,  two  miles  from  the 
end  of  Long  wharf — was  called  after  the  hero — 
"  Fort  Rale."  But  it  has  been  long  ungarrisoned, 
and  in  decay.*  A  nobler  memorial  than  this  was 
desired — and  now,  at  last — in  one  locality  at  least 
—  public  gratitude  has  erected  it — and  in  an 
imposing  and  enduring  form. 

For  many  years,  in  his  native  town,  a  simple, 
rude  stone,  by  the  side  of  his  father's  grave,  in 

*  One  of  the  New  Jersey  Chapters  of  the  Order  of  United 
Americans,  instituted  November  twenty-first,  1849,  at  Newark,  is 
entitled,  we  perceive,  the  "  Nathan  Hale  Chapter,  No.  3,  O.  U. 
A."  Another  Association  of  the  same  kind,  entitled  "  Nathan 
Hale  Chapter,  No.  66,  O.  U.  .4.,"  is  established  at  Williamsburgh, 
New  York.  At  a  "  fraternal  visit "  paid  by  this  to  the  Washing- 
ton Chapter  in  New  York  city,  September  twenty-eighth,  1855, 
Hale  was  eloquently  called  to  remembrance  in  speeches  upon  the 
occasion,  by  D.  L.  Northrop  Esq.,  of  Brooklyn,  Hon.  Joseph  H. 
Petty,  Mr.  Shelley,  and  others. 

At  one  time  a  few  patriotic  citizens  of  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
proposed  to  erect  a  monument  to  Hale  upon  the  Heights  in  that 
city.  We  have  seen  the  design  of  a  monument — a  truly  magnifi- 
cent one — for  this  location.  But  the  project  was  never  carried 
into  effect. 


152  NATHAN     HALE. 

the  burial-ground  near  the  Congregational  church, 
told  the  passer-by  that  "Nathan  Hale  Esq.,  a 
Capt.  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  was  born 
June  6th,  1755 — received  the  first  honors  of  Yale 
College  Sept.  1773" — and  "resigned  his  life  a 
sacrifice  to  his  country's  liberty  at  New  York, 
Sept.  22d,  1776,  aged  22."*  But  this  did  not 
satisfy  the  wishes  of  the  citizens  of  Coventry, 
and  vicinity,  and  of  many  in  Connecticut  who 
fondly  cherished  the  memory  of  the  martyr — 
and  accordingly,  in  November,  1837,  an  Associa- 
tion— called  the  "Hale  Monument  Association  "- 
was  formed,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  cenotaph 
in  his  honor — one  that  should  fitly  commemorate 
his  life  and  services,  f 

*  An  entry  also  of  his  death  was  made  upon  the  town  records 
of  Coventry — by  his  brother  Major  John  Hale — at  a  time  when 
the  particulars  of  his  capture  were  not  known  accurately.  It  runs 
thus :  "  Capt.  Nathan  Hale  the  son  of  Deac"  Richard  Hale  was 
taken  in  the  City  of  New  York  By  the  Britons  and  executed  as  a 
spie  sometime  in  the  Month  of  September  A.  D.  1776." 

t  The  day  on  which  it  was  formed  was  the  anniversary  day  of 
the  evacuation  of  New  York.  Hon.  A.  T.  Judson  delivered  an 
address  upon  the  occasion.  About  twenty  revolutionary  soldiers 


NATHAN     HALE.  153 

Appeal  was  made,  chiefly,  to  the  patriotism  of 
individuals  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  purpose. 
Congress — though  several  times  memorialized  for 
aid,  and  though  Select  Committees  reported  in 
favor  of  an  appropriation— yet — from  motives,  to 
us  wholly  unsatisfactory,  of  public  policy — refused 
to  grant  anything.  Eepresentatives  from  Connec- 
ticut— particularly  Honorable  Messrs.  A.  T.  Jud- 
son,  J.  H.  Brockway,  and  J.  M.  Niles — urged  the 
matter  with  a  most  commendable  zeal — but  in 
vain.*  Congress  remained  deaf  as  an  adder  to 

were  present,  and  a  large  party  partook  of  a  substantial  repast.    It 
was  a  day  of  great  interest  to  the  people  of  Coventry. 

*The  late  Hon.  Judge  Judson,  in  behalf  of  a  Select  Committee 
of  the  House,  upon  petitions  praying  that  a  monument  might  be 
erected  to  the  memory  of  Hale,  submitted  a  favorable  Report  and 
Resolution,  January  nineteenth,  1836.  Hon.  Mr.  Niles,  in  the 
same  year,  strongly  supported  the  project,  when  petitions  from 
sundry  inhabitants  of  Connecticut  came  before  the  Senate.  Hon. 
Mr.  Brockway,  May  twenty -fifth,  1842,  in  behalf  of  a  Select  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  on  the  subject,  also  submitted  a  favorable 
Report  and  Resolution,  and  pressed  the  matter  with  patriotic  earn- 
estness. For  eight  successive  years  applications,  in  one  form  and 
another,  were  made  to  Congress — but  all  of  them  failed,  as  stated 


154  NATHAN     HALE. 

their  appeal — as  it  has  been  habitually,  of  late 
years,  to  all  appeals  of  this  character — and  would 
not  bestow  a  stiver  to  honor  one  who  died  signally, 
not  for  the  liberty  of  Connecticut  alone,  but  for 
that  of  all  the  United  Colonies.*  So  the  Association 

in  the  text.  The  first  petition  on  the  subject  emanated  from  Cov- 
entry, and  was  headed  by  Doctor  Nathan  Howard,  who  married 
Joanna,  the  sister  of  Captain  Nathan  Hale.  The  second  was 
drawn  up  by  Hon.  Thomas  S.  Williams  of  Hartford,  and  was 
numerously  signed  by  citizens  in  various  parts  of  Connecticut. 
Upon  this  a  report  was  made  by  a  Committee  of  Congress,  appro- 
priating one  thousand  dollars  for  a  monument,  but  the  report  was 
not  acted  upon. 

*  In  times  that  have  past,  Congress  could  expend  thousands  of 
dollars — and  most  justly — upon  a  pedestrian  statue  of  the  Father 
of  his  country,  and  thousands  more  to  commemorate,  through  the 
painter's  art,  some  of  the  grand  historical  events  of  our  Revolution. 
It  could  erect  monuments  to  Montgomery,  Mercer,  Nash,  De  Kalb, 
Gerry,  and  Brown.  It  could  grant  to  Williams,  and  Paulding, 
and  Van  Wart,  the  captors  of  Andre,  each  a  farm  of  the  value  of 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  an  annuity  of  two  hundred  dollars 
through  life,  and  a  magnificent  silver  medal.  It  could  employ  the 
sculptor's  art  on  busts  of  Jay,  Ellsworth,  and  Marshall.  It  could 
vote  medals  of  gold,  and  swords  of  costliest  workmanship,  to  Jack- 
son, Scott,  Ripley,  Harrison,  and  to  numerous  officers  besides,  for 


NATHAN     HALE.  155 

to  which  we  have  alluded — under  the  auspices, 
always  unclouded,  of  J.  W.  Boynton  Esquire,  its 
patriotic  and  indefatigable  Secretary — moved  on 
alone — and  by  means  of  private  subscriptions,  by 
Fairs,  by  Tea  Parties,  and  by  the  exhibition  of  a 
Drama  illustrating  the  services  and  fate  of  Captain 
Hale,  collected  funds,  and  excited  public  interest 
until  in  May,  1846,  the  State  of  Connecticut 
granted  one  thousand  dollars,  and  in  May,  1847, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  more,  from  its  pub- 
lic Treasury  in  furtherance  of  the  great  object* — 


gallant  deeds  upon  the  land,  and  to  Decatur,  Hull,  Perry,  Truxton, 
McDonough,  and  many  naval  heroes  more,  for  glorious  exploits 
upon  the  seas.  It  could  recite  in  its  resolutions,  in  glowing  terms, 
the  services  of  each,  and  proclaim,  as  it  did  in  Commodore  Trux- 
ton's  case,  that  the  testimonials  of  the  American  nation  were 
bestowed  because  their  recipients  "  exhibited  an  example  worthy 
of  the  American  name."  And  yet  the  nation  could  not  say  as 
much  for  Captain  Hale,  when  petitioned  in  his  behalf— nor  do  aught 
in  his  honor.  How  was  it  with  England,  and  her  martyr  spy  ? 
Very  different.  British  gratitude  erected  to  Andre  a  splendid 
mausoleum,  even  in  Westminster  Abbey — and  among  the  most 
illustrious  dead  of  the  British  Empire !  See  Appendix  J. 

*  The  ladies  of  Coventry,  Connecticut,  were  particularly  active 


156  NATHAN     HALE. 

and  the  Monument,  of  which,  opposite,  we  give  a 
picture — arose,  "  a  fit  emblem  both  of  the  events 
in  memory  of  which  it  was  raised,  and  of  the 

in  procuring  means  to  erect  the  monument  to  Hale,  and  deserve, 
as  they  will  receive,  the  especial  thanks  of  the  Public.  In  1844, 
on  the  first  Wednesday  in  May,  they  held  a  Fair  in  the  old  church 
of  the  First  Ecclesiastical  Society,  at  which  many  useful  and  fancy 
articles  were  collected,  and  contributions  were  made  of  cash,  from 
Coventry,  Hartford  and  other  places.  More  than  three  thousand 
persons  were  present,  and  the  receipts  were  two  hundred  and  six- 
ty-eight dollars.  Refreshments  were  provided,  and  the  Mansfield 
Brass  Band,  and  the  Coventry  Glee  Club,  were  in  attendance— 
gratuitously.  A  song,  beautifully  printed  on  satin — was  prepared 
for  the  occasion,  by  Miss  Jerusha  Root,  of  Andover,  Connecticut. 
It  addressed  the  "  Daughters  of  Freedom,"  as  having  assembled, 

"  with  choicest  flowers 
To  deck  a  hero's  grave — 
To  shed  the  light  of  love  around 
The  memory  of  the  brave." 

"  Te  came,"  glide  on  the  strains — 

"  Ye  came  with  hearts  rtmt  oft  have  glowed 

At  his  soul-stirring  tale — 
To  wreathe  the  deathless  evergreen 

Around  the  name  of  Hale. 

Here  his  memorial  stone  shall  rise, 

In  Freedom's  hallowed  shade — 
Prouder  than  Andre's  trophied  tomb, 

'Mid  mightiest  monarchs  laid. 


NATHAN     HALE.  157 

gratitude  of  those  who  reared  it" — arose  "to  meet 
the  sun  in  his  coming  " — to  "  let  the  earliest  light 
of  the  morning  gild  it,  and  parting  day  linger  and 
play  on  its  summit !  " 

It  stands  upon  elevated  ground,  near  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  in  South  Coventry — and 
within  a  space,  enclosed  by  a  neat  iron  picketed 

So  shall  the  patriot's  honored  name 

Go  down  to  other  days — 
And  Love's  own  lyre  shall  sound  his  fame, 

In  thrilling  notes  of  praise." 

The  Drama,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  text,  was  in  five 
acts,  and  was  written  for  the  Hale  Monument  Association  by  David 
Trumbull  Esq.  It  was  exhibited  at  the  Meeting-House  in  South 
Coventry,  with  accompanying  Tableaux.  One  of  the  Tea-Parties, 
to  which  reference  also  is  made,  was  given  March  eleventh,  1846, 
by  the  young  ladies  of  South  Coventry — with  good  success.  One 
dollar,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Hale  Association,  admitted  a  gentle- 
man and  lady.  By  May,  1846,  the  whole  amount  collected  was 
fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

Thus — one  way  and  another — with  untiring  zeal — the  noble 
design  of  a  monument  to  Hale,  worthy  of  the  patriot,  was  prose- 
cuted— till  the  appropriation  from  the  Treasury  of  Connecticut — 
in  behalf  of  which — memory  pleasant  to  our  soul — we  had  the  sat- 
isfaction, in  Senate,  of  giving  heartily  our  own  voice  and  vote — 

rendered  the  project  certain  of  consummation. 
'14 


158  NATHAN     HALE. 

fence,  which  abuts  on  an  old  Burjing-yard,  that 
holds  among  other  ashes,  those  of  Hale's  own 
family.  Its  site  is  particularly  fine — for  on  the 
north  it  overlooks  that  long,  broad,  and  beautiful 
lake  of  Wangumbaug,  into  whose  oozy  depths, 
with  great  constancy,  Hale 

"  Cast  to  the  finny  tribe  the  baited  snare, 
Then  flung  the  wriggling  captives  into  air — " 

while  on  the  east,  commanding  a  view  of  scenenr 
that  is  truly  noble,  it  literally  looks  through  a  long 
and  captivating  natural  vista  to  greet  "  the  sun  in 
its  rising."  The  Monument — the  original  plan  of 
which  was  drawn  by  Henry  Austin  Esquire,  of 
New  Haven — consists  of  a  pyramidal  shaft,  rest- 
ing on  a  base  of  steps,  with  a  shelving  projection 
about  one-third  of  the  way  up  the  pedestal.  Its 
material  is  hewn  Quincy  granite,  from  foundation 
to  capstone,  and  embraces  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  tons  of  stone.  It  is  fourteen  feet  square  at 
the  base,  and  its  height  is  forty-five  feet.*  It  was 


*The  transportation  of  the  material  from  Quincy  to  Norwich, 
at  an  estimated  cost  of  four  hundred  dollars,  was  a  generous  gra- 


NATHAN     HALE.  159 

completed  in  1846 — under  the  supenntendence  of 
Solomon  "Willard  Esquire,  the  architect  of  the 
Bunker  Hill  Monument — at  a  cost,  everything 
included,  of  four  thousand  and  thirty- three  dollars 
and  ninety-three  cents,  and  bears  upon  its  sides 
the  following  inscriptions. 

[East  side.] 

Captain  Nathan  Hale. 

1776. 

tuity  on  the  part  of  the  Old  Colony,  Boston  and  Worcester,  and 
Norwich  and  "Worcester  Rail  Road  Companies.  The  Hon.  Nathan 
Hale  of  Boston,  nephew  and  namesake  of  the  patriot  we  com- 
memorate, and  at  the  time  President  of  the  second  of  these  Com- 
panies, was  nobly  active  in  procuring  this  result.  From  Norwich 
to  Coventry  the  material  was  transported  by  ox-teams,  at  an  esti- 
mated cost  of  about  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars.  On  the 
seventh  of  April,  1846,  the  ground  was  first  broken  for  the  founda- 
tion of  the  monument,  which  was  laid  of  stone  quarried  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  east  of  its  site.  Messrs.  Hazelton  &  Co., 
of  Boston,  erected  the  cenotaph,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  dollars, 
and  completed  it  on  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  1846. 


160  NATHAN     HALE. 

[North  side.] 

B  o  R  x    AT    COVENTRY. 
JUNE   6.   1755. 

[South  side.] 

DIED    AT    NEW    YORK. 
SEPT.    22.    1776. 

[West  side.] 
"3E  nnls  «3«t  tfiat  £  fiabt  tut  out  lift  to  lose  for  ms  tountrs-" 


Hale's  fate,  as  might  be  expected,  has  called  out 
at  times  the  Muse  of  Poetry — but  rarely  however, 
for  the  parchment  roll  of  his  history  has  been, 
hitherto,  wanting  to  Calliope,  and  Clio  has  missed 
him  in  her  half-opened  scroll.  Yet  are  the  ten 
lines  from  Doctor  Dwight — on  the  Title  Page  of 
this  Volume — nobly  commemorative — and  so  also 
are  many  lines  in  a  poem  of  considerable  length 
which  was  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Hale,  but 
a  short  time  after  his  death,  by  a  personal 
acquaintance  and  friend — one  who  knew  and 


NATHAN     HALE.  161 

loved  him  well.*  In  this  poem,  the  author  des- 
cribes Hale  as  in  personal  appearance  erect  and 
tall,  with  a  "beauteous  face,"  that  was  marked  by 
"  innate  goodness,"  and  a  frame,  which,  possessing 


*The  name  of  the  author  is  unknown.  His  entire  poem,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  sixty  lines,  may  be  found  in  the  Febru- 
ary number  of  the  American  Historical  Magazine,  published  in 
New  Haven  in  1836.  He  prefaces  it  with  the  following  quotation 
from  Virgil : 

•'  Heu  !  miserande  puer,  «i  qua  fata  aspera  rumpas, 
Tu  Marcellns  eris  " — 

and  also  with  the  following  letter,  bearing  date  "  New  Haven, 
Aug.  9,  1784." 

"  I  was  personally  acquainted  with,  and  entertained  a  high  opin- 
ion of  the  amiable  Capt.  Nathan  Hale,  who  suffered  death  in  New 
York  by  the  hands  of  the  British  troops,  in  1776  ;  a  character  on 
some  accounts  similar  to  Major  Andre,  and  on  many,  greatly  supe- 
rior. Every  man  who  regards  the  welfare  of  his  country,  must 
revere  a  patriot  who  died  in  its  defence ;  and  while  the  English 
Magazines,  News,  &c.,  were  filled  with  the  praises  of  Major  Andre, 
it  gave  me  no  small  degree  of  regret  that  Capt.  Halo's  virtues 
should  be  so  little  celebrated  in  the  country  where,  and  for  which 
he  died.  This  I  am  able  to  impute  to  nothing  but  the  great  dis- 
tress in  which  America  was  at  that  time  involved.  This  gave  rise 

to  the  following  piece,  which  was  wrote  soon  after  Hale's  death." 
14* 


162  NATHAN     HALE. 

great  symmetry  and  grace,  was  "vigorous,  and 
active  as  electric  flame."  He  represents  him  at 
college  as  a  most  dutiful  pupil,  and  as  possessing 
"  erudition  far  beyond  his  years  " — as  developing 
a  lively  fancy,  solid  judgment,  great  fondness  for 
science,  and  intense  admiration  for 

"  those  polished  lines, 
Where  Grecian  wit  and  Roman  genius  shines  " — 

and  as  having  his  soul  fired  by  the  examples  of 
those  great  worthies  of  a  former  age,  who  "live 
in  the  poet's  and  historian's  page." 

He   speaks  of   his    "blameless   carriage,  and 
modest  air  " — characterizes  him  as 

"  Above  the  vain  parade  and  idle  show, 
Which  mark  the  coxcomb,  and  the  empty  beau  " — 

and  describing  his  qualities  of  temper  and  con- 
duct, says  that 

"  Removed  from  envy,  malice,  pride,  and  strife, 
He  walked  through  goodness  as  he  walked  through  life : 
A  kinder  brother  nature  never  knew, 
A  child  more  duteous,  or  a  friend  more  true." 

The  poet  next  follows  him  into  the  army  near 


NATHAN     HALE.  163 

Boston  —  where,  lie  says,  Washington  early 
marked  him  as  "a  genius  fit  for  every  great 
design  " — 

•'  His  virtues  trusted,  and  his  worth  admired, 
And  mutual  friendship  both  their  bosoms  fired." 

He  next  follows  him  to  New  York — narrates  the 
task  imposed  on  him  by  Washington — his  execu- 
tion of  it — his  arrest — his  arraignment  before  his 
enemies — his  undaunted  demeanor  upon  the  occa- 
sion, and  his  noble  frankness. 

"  Hate  of  oppression's  arbitrary  plan, 
The  love  of  freedom,  and  the  rights  of  man, 
A  strong  desire  to  save  from  slavery's  chain 
The  future  millions  of  the  western  main  " — 

these  are  the  ends  for  which,  most  truthfully,  Hale 
is  portrayed  as  having  "served  with  zeal  the  land 
that  gave  him  birth" — and  as  having  at  last  '  met 
his  fate'  in  a  scene,  to  paint  which,  the  poet 

exclaims, 

"  the  powers  of  language  fail, — 
Love,  grief,  and  pity  break  the  mournful  taje. 
Hot  Socrates,  or  noble  Russel  died, 


164  NATHAN    HALE. 

Or  gentle  Sidney,  Britain's  boast  and  pride, 
Or  gen'rous  Moore,  approached  life's  final  goal, 
With  more  composed,  more  firm,  and  stable  soul. 
The  flesh  sunk  down,  to  mix  with  kindred  clay, — 
The  soul  ascended  to  the  realms  of  day." 

With  similar  pathos,  and  not  ungracefully,  does 
a  poet  of  Hale's  own  native  place — the  late 
lamented  J.  S.  Babcock — sing  of  his  departed 
townsman.  "Full  stern  was  his  doom,"  he 
rehearses — 

"  but  full  firmly  he  died, 
No  funeral  or  bier  they  made  him, 
Not  a  kind  eye  wept,  nor  a  warm  heart  sighed, 
O'er  the  spot  all  unknown  where  they  laid  him. 

He  fell  in  the  spring  of  his  early  prime, 

"With  his  fair  hopes  all  around  him  ; 
He  died  for  his  birth-land — '  a  glorious  crime ' — 

Ere  the  palm  of  his  fame  had  crowned  him. 

He  fell  in  her  darkness — he  lived  not  to  see 

The  morn  of  her  risen  glory  ; 
But  the  name  of  the  brave,  in  the  hearts  of  the  free, 

Shall  be  twined  in  her  deathless  story." 

Nor  ungracefully  either — but  on  the  other  hand 


NATHAN     HALE.  165 

with  much  of  lyric  force — does  Francis  M.  Finch 
Esquire — in  his  Poem  before  the  Linonian  Society 
of  Yale  College  at  its  Centennial  Anniversary  in 
1853 — sing  of  the  departed  patriot.  "  To  drum- 
beat," he  proceeds,  in  a  few  verses  which  we 
extract  from  a  series — 

"  To  drum-beat  and  heart-beat, 

A  soldier  marches  by ; 
There  is  color  in  his  cheek, 

There  is  courage  in  his  eye, 
Yet  to  drum-beat  and  heart-beat, 
In  a  moment  he  must  die. 

By  star-light  and  moon-light, 

He  seeks  the  Briton's  camp ; 
He  hears  the  rustling  flag, 

And  the  armed  sentry's  tramp ; 
And  the  star-light  and  moon-light 

His  silent  wanderings  lamp. 

With  slow  tread  and  still  tread, 

He  scans  the  tented  line  ; 
And  he  counts  the  battery-guns 

By  the  gaunt  and  shadowy  pine ; 
And  his  slow  tread  and  still  tread 

Gives  no  warning  sign." 


166  NATHAN    HALE. 

Tills  'warning  sign,'  however,  as  the  poet  des- 
cribes, soon  comes.  "With  a  sharp  clang,  a  steel 
clang,  the  patriot  is  bound  " — and  now, 

A 

"  With  calm  brow,  steady  brow, 

He  listens  to  his  doom ; 
In  his  look  there  is  no  fear, 

Nor  a  shadow  trace  of  gloom 
But  with  calm  brow,  and  steady  brow, 
He  robes  him  for  the  tomb. 

In  the  long  night,  the  still  night, 

He  kneels  upon  the  sod ; 
And  the  brutal  guards  withhold 

E'en  the  solemn  Word  of  God . 
In  the  long  night,  the  still  night, 

He  walks  where  Christ  hath  trod. 

'Neath  the  blue  morn,  the  sunny  morn, 

He  dies  upon  the  tree ; 
And  he  mourns  that  he  can  lose 

But  one  life  for  Liberty ; 
And  in  the  blue  morn,  the  sunny  morn, 

His  spirit-wings  are  free. 


From  Fame-leaf  and  Angel-leaf, 
From  monument  and  urn, 


NATHAN     HALE.  167  ,. 

The  sad  of  Earth,  the  glad  of  Heaven, 

His  tragic  fate  shall  learn  ; 
And  on  Fame-leaf  and  Angel-leaf, 

The  name  of  HALE  shall  burn !  " 

Eomance  too  has  been  busy  with  Hale.  He 
has  been  made  the  hero  of  tales,  and  the  origina- 
tor of  sentiments,  in  which  the  imagination,  and  not 
fact,  has  had  the  principal  part  to  play.  It  is  not 
to  be  regretted  however,  that  even  in  these  forms, 
exaggerated  though  they  be,  his  memory  is  kept 
alive.  So  we  are  able  to  separate  the  true  from 
the  fanciful,  we  can  pardon  almost  any  idealiza- 
tion of  Hale's  character.  We  can  forgive  the  halo 
for  the  sake  of  the  truly  noble  shape  which  it 
encompasses.  When,  however,  we  encounter  a 
tribute  to  his  memory,  not  heightened  in  coloring, 
but  chaste  and  natural,  like  that  which  we  are 
now  about  to  introduce — it  is  indeed  most  grate- 
ful— as  our  Readers  also,  we  think,  will  find  it  to  be. 

It  proceeds,  in  the  form  of  an  epitaph,  in  the 
old  style,  from  the  antiquarian  pen  of  our  worthy 
friend  George  Gibbs  Esquire,  Librarian  formerly 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Socjpty,  who  has 


168  NATHAN     HALE. 

kindly  furnished  us  with  it — and  we  here  give  it 
place. 

% 

"JStranjjfr  Bttuatfi  ififs  Stunt 

3U.es  tf)t  bust  of 


fofco  ptrtJB&tir  upon  tfit 


tfce  Storttli  marilw  of  tit  (5uat 

t^t  5trint«  of  3^tro*J5 
tntomii  not  ont,  mort  fcaorifis  of 

J^onor 

t^an  ^tm  fofio  t«r« 
£lttps  i)i5  last  slttjp. 

Natfonjs 

iobj  Snttf)  rtbtrtntt  itfori  t|t  irujjt 
of  f)im  boljo  hits 
a  jjlort'ous  Ctati 
on  Js  t^e  jsounli  of  tfo* 


anb  t^t  scouts  of 

abmtrtn^  tfjousanirs 

33ut  Sntat  nbtrtntt,  iofiat  Jonot 

is  not  fciu  to  one 
foto  for  ftt's  touittrs  tntounttrtlJ 
an  infamous  &tat!) 


antmatJlr  ij  no  pratst." 


NATHAN     HALE.  169 

In  connection,  and  in  comparison  with  Hale, 
the  image  of  the  brave  and  unfortunate  Andre 
rises,  of  course,  to  the  contemplation  of  the  Reader. 
Let  us  look  at  them — side  by  side — and  in  con- 
trast— the  one  an  American,  the  other  a  British 
spy — each  a  distinguished  victim — the  one  to  his 
love  of  country — the  other  to  "his  own  impru- 
dence, ambition,  and  love  of  glory  " — each  a  mar- 
tyr— the  one  for  liberty — the  other  for  power. 
They  were  both  gallant  officers.  They  were  both 
accomplished  men — Andre  the  most  so  by  educa- 
tion, as  having  enjoyed  the  highest  advantages, 
and  more  used  than  Hale  to  polished  society.  He 
could  both  draw  and  paint  exquisitely — which 
Hale  could  not — and  he  was  better  versed  than 
the  latter  in  elegant  literature.  They  were  both 
men  of  striking  personal  appearance.  They  would 
have  been  called  graceful,  beautiful,  and  manly,  by 
all.  Each  possessed  a  lively  sensibility.  Each 
was  cheerful,  affable,  amiable,  honorable,  magnan- 
imous. Each  was  admired  in  all  social  circles, 
and  won  the  hearts  of  hosts  of  friends. 

Let  us  look  at  the  two  now  in  their  respective 
15 


170  NATHAN    HALE. 

missions.  Andre,  upon  his  own,  did  not  volun- 
teer. It  was  upon  Arnold's  solicitation,  fortified 
by  considerations  of  friendship  between  Andre 
and  the  traitor's  accomplished  wife — and  at  the 
direct  request  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  himself,  of 
whose  military  family  Andre  formed  a  part,  and 
to  Whom,  for  kindness  that  had  been  "lavish," 
Andre  confesses  obligations  the  most  profound — 
that  the  British  Aid  de  Camp,  not  dreaming  to 
enact  the  spy,  and  with  in  fact  no  dangers  then 
in  prospect,  consented,  not  proffered  to  undertake 
his  task. 

But  not  so  with  Hale.  He,  upon  his  mission, 
volunteered.  Soon  as  the  wish  of  "Washington 
was  made  known — biased  by  no  considerations  of 
private  friendship,  and  without  thought  of  requi- 
ting personal  obligations  either  to  the  Commander- 
in-chief,  or  to  any  other  officer  or  man — in  view  of 
dangers  most  imminent,  from  which  all  others 
shrank — in  full  view  of  them — and  in  the  face  of 
earnest  entreaty  to  the  contrary — he  offered  him- 
self to  discharge  the  trust. 

Andre,  wn  he  left  New  York,  had  no  idea  of 


NATHAN    HALE.  171 

passing  within  the  American  lines.  He  was  spe- 
cially instructed  by  Clinton  not  to  do  so — not  to 
change  his  dress  as  a  British  officer — and  he  did 
not,  until,  as  he  says  himself,  he  was  "betrayed 
into  the  vile  condition  of  an  enemy  in  disguise." 
He  was  to  go  to  Dobb's  Ferry  only — upon  the 
borders  merely  of  neutral  ground — and  there, 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  settle  with  Arnold  the  "  pre- 
tended mercantile  transaction  " — and  it  was  the 
voice  of  the  sentinel,  in  the  darkness  of  night,  at 
Smith's  house,  which  first  gave  him  intimation  of 
the  "unexpected  circumstance"  that  he  was  within 
the  American  beat,  and  in  danger.  "Against 
my  stipulation,  my  intention,  and  without  my 
knowledge  beforehand,"  he  writes  to  "Washington, 
"I  was  conducted  within  one  of  your  posts — I 
was  involuntarily  an  impostor." 

Hale,  on  the  other  hand,  started  from  the 
American  camp,  fully  aware  '  beforehand  '  that  he 
was  to  change  his  dress,  and  assume  a  disguise — 
that  he  was  to  pass  within  the  British  lines — into 
their  midst — up  to  the  very  muzzles  of  their  mus- 
kets, and  the  mouths  of  their  ordnance — that  he 


172  NATHAN    HALE. 

was  in  fact  to  be,  in  all  the  shifts,  and  shades,  and 
aims,  and  efforts  of  his  mission,  the  spy.  He  under- 
took then,  at  the  outset,  what  Andre  not  only  did 
not,  but  never  even  contemplated,  nor  would,  we 
believe,  but  for  an  unforseen  necessity,  have  for  a 
moment  endured.  His  moral  courage,  therefore, 
rises  higher  than  that  of  Andre's — higher  far. 
For  the  sake  of  the  sublime  cause  in  which  he 
was  engaged,  he  became  voluntarily  '  an  impos- 
tor.' He  took  upon  himself  a  great  ignominy  to 
start  with.  Andre  took  none — bore  no  burden 
whatever  upon  his  spirits.  Not  even  a  fancied 
shadow  projected  itself,  for  a  moment,  over  the 
dial  of  his  honor,  when  he  left  the  Head  Quarters 
of  his  Commander-in-chief,  and  he  pushed  for- 
ward to  the  Vulture  at  Teller's  Point,  "carolling 
as  he  went." 

The  motives  which  inspired  Hale  and  Andre  in 
their  respective  expeditions,  are  well  worthy  of 
consideration,  and  furnish  striking  contrast. 
"  What  was  to  have  been  your  reward,  in  case 
you  had  succeeded?" — inquired  Major  Tallmadge 
of  his  prisoner,  as  the  latter  sat  on  the  after  seat 


NATHAN    HALE.  173 

of  the  barge  in  which  he  was  borne,  under  escort, 
from  "West  Point  to  Tappan.  "Military  glory  was 
all  that  I  sought,"  replied  Andre — "  and  the  thanks 
of  my  general,  and  the  approbation  of  my  king, 
would  have  been  a  rich  reward  for  such  an  under- 
taking." Yes,  military  renown — martial  prefer- 
ment— the  office  of  Brigadier  General  in  the  British 
army,  offered  him  in  advance  as  a  glittering  prize — 
the  '  big  wars '  and  the  '  plumed  troop '  to  make 
his  '  ambition  virtue ' — these,  and  Clinton's  thanks, 
and  the  compliments  of  royalty,  were  the  motives 
which  prompted  Andre — motives  which,  however 
elevated  they  may  be  thought  to  be,  and  in  cer- 
tain relations  are,  yet  in  true  greatness,  and 
dignity,  fall  far  below  those  which  prompted 
Hale. 

Was  Hale  willing  to  hazard  his  life,  that  as  a 
warrior,  and  in  this  character  alone,  he  might 
"  instil  his  memory  through  a  thousand  years  ?" 
Not  at  all.  No  martial  allurement,  of  any  kind, 
enslaved  his  imagination — ardent  though  it  was — 
or  flattered  his  hope,  or  stimulated  his  ambition. 

No  promotion  was  promised — none  was  expected. 
15* 


174  NATHAN    HALE. 

No  reward  in  pelf  was  pledged.  "  Surrounded 
from  his  birth,"  as  one  of  his  nephews*  has  justly 
said,  "  with  the  doctrine  that  men  should  do  right 
because  it  is  right,  he  went  upon  his  hazardous 
mission  just  because  it  was  right  to  go — not 
thinking  what  bodies  would  say,  nor  expecting 
or  caring  to  be  a  hero."  It  was  a  pure  sense  of 
duty — a  magnificent  inspiration  direct  and  deep 
from  the  soul  of  patriotism  itself — that  impelled 
Hale  to  his  task,  and  that  bore  him  onward — 
unlike  Andre,  thoughtless  of  fame — unlike  Andre, 
thoughtless  of  reward — unlike  Andre,  with  no 
motive  but  the  one  engrossing,  unpolluted,  serene 
thought  of  '  being  useful '  to  his  country — onward 
to  risk,  to  capture,  and  to  death,  f 

The  peril  while  engaged  in  their  expeditions — 
here  again  the  parallel  between  Andre  and  Hale 
is  in  favor  of  the  latter.  Andre  experienced 
scarce  any  exposure  until  he  reached  Smith's 


*  The  late  David  Hale  Esquire,  of  New  York. 

t"  Viewed  in  any  light,"  says  Sparks,  most  justly,  the  act  of 
Hale  "  must  be  allowed  to  bear  unequivocal  marks  of  patriotic 
disinterestedness  and  self-devotion." 


%       NATHAN    HALE.  175 

house  near  Haverstraw — and  there  but  slight — a 
little  more  at  King's  Ferry,  on  his  attempted  re- 
turn, near  certain  Whig  loungers  over  a  bowl  of 
punch — more  still  near  Crompond,  in  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  an  American  patrolling  party, 
and  of  the  inquisitive  Captain  Boyd — but  after 
this  time,  but  little  again  until  from  the  bushes  at 
Tarrytown,  he  was  seized  and  secured  by  the  pat- 
riot hands  of  Pauldin'g,  and  Williams,  and  Yan 
Wart.  Thirty-six  hours  only  elapsed  from  the 
time  he  left  the  secure  deck  of  the  Yulture,  and 
the  shrouded  foot  of  Mount  Long  Clove,  till  he 
became  a  captive — and  during  this  short  interval, 
his  chief,  nay  almost  his  only  peril  was  among 
the  Cowboys  and  Skinners  who  infested  the  far- 
famed  neutral  ground  of  Westchester  County. 
But  Hale  was  upon  his  mission,  ere  he  was  made 
a  prisoner,  about  two  weeks — a  long  period 
indeed  as  compared  with  that  occupied  by  Andre — 
and  filled  up,  the  whole  of  it,  with  risks  far  more 
constant  and  glaring,  not  alone  among  bandits 
unprincipled  and  perfidious  as  those  in  whose 
proximity  Andre  journeyed,  but  also  in  the  im- 


176  NATHAN    HALE. 

mediate  presence  of  the  foe,  and  within  the  very 
circuits  of  their  encampments. 

The  behaviour  of  Hale  and  Andre  immediately 
after  their  capture  merits  comparison — it  was  in 
some  points  so  strikingly  similar.  Truthful  by 
impulse — "  too  little  accustomed  to  duplicity," 
either  of  them,  long  to  '  succeed '  in  it — staggering 
too,  each  of  them,  under  the  weight  of  evidence 
that  seemed  resistless — they  both  made  a  clean 
breast  of  it,  and  confessed.  The  British  officer 
did  it,  seeking  some  mitigation  of  his  case,  but 
only  such,  however,  "  as  could  be  granted  on  the 
strict  principles  of  honor  and  military  usage." 
Hale  sought  no  alleviation  of  his  own  case,  of 
any  kind — but  respectfully  triumphed  over  his 
success,  such  as  he  had  obtained,  and  proudly 
confronted  impending  punishment. 

Andre  acknowledged  himself  an  Adjutant  Gen- 
eral in  the  British  army — but  not  a  spy — certainly 
not  an  '  intentional '  one.  It  was  his  purpose,  as 
in  his  letter  to  Washington  he  says,  to  '  rescue ' 
himself  "from  an  imputation  of  having  assumed 
a  mean  character  for  treacherous  purposes,  or  self- 


NATHAN    HALE.  177 

interest."  Hale  acknowledged  himself  a  Captain 
in  the  American  Continental  service — but  no 
scruples  of  fancied  honor,  no  penitential  casuist- 
ries, stood  for  a  moment  between  himself  and  the 
part  he  had  acted.  He  pronounced  himself  to 
General  Howe,  at  once  and  unequivocally,  a  spy 
— and  was  ready,  he  affirmed,  for  the  spy's  fate. 

Upon  trial,  Hale  was  manly,  dignified,  respect- 
ful, prompt,  unembarrassed,  without  disguise.  So 
was  Andre.  Each  stated  "  with  truth  everything 
relating  to  himself."  Neither  used  any  words 
"  to  explain,  palliate,  or  defend  any  part  of  his 
conduct."  Each  without  surprise,  without  com- 
ment, without  a  murmur,  without  even  a  com- 
plaining look,  received  his  sentence.  And  each, 
after  the  sentence,  retired  to  his  quarters  "  tran- 
quil in  mind" — the  one,  Hale — heaven  knows 
where — to  some  foul  barrack,  or  tent,  or  an  '  oak- 
en bed '  in  some  cell  of  the  Provost — the  other, 
Andre,  to  '  decent  quarters ' — specially  ordered  by 
Washington  himself  to  be  such — to  a  well  fur- 
nished apartment,  where,  in  pursuance  of  direc- 
tions from  the  same  high  authority,  and  in  con- 


178  NATHAN    HALE. 

formity  with  the  inclination  of  all  on  duty,  he 
was  'treated  with  civility' — was  comfortably 
lodged  and  fed — from  the  table  principally  of  the 
American  Commander-in-chief  himself — and  "eve- 
ry attention  paid  to  him  suitable  to  his  rank  and 
character." 

The  interval  between  condemnation  and  death 
was  spent  by  each  in  a  frame  of  mind  for  the 
most  part  composed,  but  at  times,  we  must  be- 
lieve, agitated  and  agonized — not  by  the  fear  of 
death — but  at  thought  of  rupturing,  so  soon,  by 
the  mortal  throe,  earth's  potent  ties — nay,  in  case 
of  each  of  the  captives,  some  ties  that  are  the  ten- 
derest  and  most  engrossing  of  all  that  bind  man 
to  this  world.  Andre  had  his  mother  and  two 
sisters,  dependent,  each  of  them,  in  some  degree 
upon  his  commission  for  support.  Though 
"Hope's  soft  star,"  as  his  friend  Miss  Seward  ex- 
presses it,  had  "  shone  trembling  on  his  love,"  he  yet 
cherished  his  "  Honora."*  He  had  too  his  coun- 

*  His  marriage,  says  Sparks,  "  was  defeated  by  the  opposition 
of  the  lady's  father.  Four  years  after  the  engagement  was  dis- 
solved by  parental  authority,  she  was  married  to  another  person. 


NATHAN  HALE.  179 

try  to  live  for,  and  serve.  And  so  had  Hale — a 
bleeding  country,  in  a  crisis  of  danger,  to  love 
and  fight  for — and  troops  of  fond  relatives  and 
friends  upon  whom  to  outpour  his  affection — and 
an  "  Alicia  "  too,  to  admire  and  wear  as  the  rich- 
est jewel  in  his  heart.  Sombre  thoughts  then,  at 
times — pangs  even — must  have  come  over  the 
souls  of  the  two  sufferers,  as  in  the  solitude  of 
their  imprisonment,  they  contemplated  their  near 
and  dark  approaching  destiny. 

Yet — most  of  the  time — we  are  assured,  their 
appearance  was  marked  by  that  same  "  serenity 
of  temper,  and  winning  gentleness  of  manners," 
which  had  been  conspicuous  in  their  lives.  An- 
dre, in  his  imprisonment,  was  surrounded  by 
sympathy  and  attention.  So  many  and  extenua- 
ting were  the  circumstances  in  his  favor,  that 
"  even  the  sternest  advocate  for  justice  could  not 

Till  that  time  Andre  had  cherished  the  delusive  fancy  that  some 
propitious  event  would  change  the  current  of  his  fortunes,  and 
crown  his  wishes  with  success.  Despair  had  now  shut  the  door 
of  hope." — The  lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged  married  a  Mr. 
Edgworth,  and  died  six  years  after  her  nuptials. 


180  NATHAN     HALE. 

regard  his  impending  fate  without  regret,  or  a 
wish  that  it  might  be  averted."  But  Hale,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  no  such  kindness  near  him — not 
one  drop  even  for  his  parched  and  yearning  heart 
— but  all  around  him  was  dissonance,  malediction, 
and  severity.  He  was  alone  in  his  own  deso- 
lation. 

Each  of  the  captives  wrote  letters  in  prison — 
Hale  to  his  home — Andre  to  General  Washing- 
ton, and  to  Clinton.  Andre  in  prison  dreaded 
the  gibbet,  and  implored  to  die  a  soldier's  death — 
by  the  bullet.  No  such  apprehension,  that  we 
can  learn,  tortured  Hale.  Andre,  with  a  pen, 
quietly  sketched  his  own  likeness,  seated  at  a  table 
in  his  guard-room,  on  the  morning  of  the  day 
fixed  for  his  execution.*  Hale  had  no  such  re- 
source for  melancholy  diversion — nor  is  it  proba- 
ble that  he  would  have  used  it,  had  it  been  in  his 
power,  in  preference  to  last  words,  to  meditation, 
and  to  prayer. 

*  See  a  fac  simile  of  it  on  the  page  opposite.  The  original  is  in 
the  Trumbull  Gallery  at  Yale  College.  The  likeness  is  deemed 
very  accurate. 


NATHAN     HALE.  183 

Each  received  with  calmness  notice  of  the  fatal 
hour.  Each  marched  firmly  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution, save  that  disappointment  at  the  mode  of 
death  made  the  frame  of  Andre  shudder  for  a 
moment  when  he  first  saw  the  gibbet.  "  It  will 
be  but  a  momentary  pang,"  however,  he  said,  and 
with  his  own  hands  bared,  bandaged,  and  noosed 
himself  for  the  occasion.*  Other  and  barbarous 
hands,  hands  of  true  raven  blackness,  prepared 
Ilale  for  his  exit — and  his  own  mortal  agony  was 
witnessed  by  but  few — and  these  strangers  all  to 
the  sufferer — persons  chiefly  of  humble  condition, 
with  hearts,  most  of  them,  of  flint — and  who  were 
assembled  more  from  prurient  curiosity — just  to 
see  a  spy  hung — than  from  any  motives  of  com- 
passion. But  Andre  had  around  him  an  immense 
concourse  of  people — a  large  detachment  of  Ameri- 
can troops,  and  almost  all  the  American  general 


*  "  The  hangman,  who  was  painted  black,  offered  to  put  on  the 
noose. — '  Take  off  your  black  hands  ! '  said  Andre  ;  then  putting 
on  the  noose  himself,  took  out  his  handkerchief,  tied  it  on,  drew  it 
up,  bowed  with  a  smile  to  his  acquaintances,  and  died."  Testi- 
mony of  David  Williams. 


184  NATHAN     HALE. 

and  field  officers — and  the  entire  body  garlanded 
him  with  their  sympathy — gratefully  intensified 
the  scene,  and  soothed  the  sufferer,  with  the  tri- 
bute of  their  silent,  deep,  and  universal  mourning. 

Hale  met  his  fate  unostentatiously.  Andre,  in 
complete  British  uniform — in  a  coat  of  dazzling 
scarlet,  and  under-clothes  of  brightest  buff — with 
his  long,  beautiful  hair  carefully  arranged  — 
and  with  his  hands  upon  his  hips — paced  his  own 
coffin  back  and  forth — gazed  complacently  at  the 
fatal  beam  over  his  head,  and  upon  the  crowd 
around  him — and  then  dauntlessly  too,  like  Hale, 
gave  himself  up  to  that  'tremendous  swing,'  as 
an  eye-witness  reports  it,  which,  almost  instantly, 
closed  his  mortal  career. 

The  last  words  of  the  sufferers — the  comparison 
here  is  indeed  moving  and  instructive. — "  /  pray 
you  to  bear  me  witness"  said  Andre  to  Colonel 
Scammel,  "  that  I  meet  my  fate  like  a  brave  man  !  " 
— " I only  regret"  said  Hale,  " that  I  have  but  one 
life  to  lose  for  my  country  !  " — Is  it  not  obvious  ? — 
the  one  was  measuring  himself  in  the  eyes  of  men 
— the  other  in  the  eyes  of  his  Maker — the  one  was 


NATHAN    HALE.  185 

thinking  of  reputation — the  other  of  usefulness — 
the  one  of  heroism — the  other  of  benefaction — 
Andre  of  himself — Hale  of  his  country.  The 
dying  moment  then — that  ordeal  which,  poignantly 
as  by  fire,  tests  the  natural  disposition — that  sol- 
emn crisis  when  eternity  is  wont  to  sweep  every 
shade  of  delusion  from  the  soul  of  man,  and  truth, 
if  ever,  speaks  in  its  genuine  purity  and  power 
from  his  quivering  lips — the  dying  moment  testi- 
fies to  Hale's  superior  sublimity  of  character  as 
compared  with  Andre. 

It  was  not  the  American  martyr,  at  this  time — 
be  it  remarked — who  was  thinking  of  worldly 
fame,  and  worldly  honors.  He  summoned  no  one 
to  bear  witness  to  his  fortitude.  No  desire  had  he, 
like  Andre,  to  concentrate  admiration  for  the  iron 
strength  with  which  he  could  endure  bodily  suf- 
fering. No  attempt  did  he  make  to  brace  his 
nerves  by  stimulating  visions  of  posthumous 
applause.  He  had  not  the  first  faint  conception 
even  of  shining  in  after  ages,  as  a  star  among 
warrior-martyrs — as  a  brave  man  merely — as  the 

hero,  the  Promethean  hero  of  the  American  Rev- 
16* 


186  NATHAN     HALE. 

olution.  The  lips  of  posterity  might  praise  him, 
he  may  have  desired — but  it  was  only  for  his 
exalted  moral  purposes,  and  for  his  utter  disinter- 
estedness of  spirit,  that  he  could  have  wished  its 
approbation.  It  was  only  because  under  the  im- 
pelling power  of  a  free,  conscientious,  self-reward- 
ing, inspiring  sense  of  patriotic  duty,  he  struggled 
for  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  his  fellow-men — 
because  he  expired,  nobly  breathing  out  the  whole 
body  of  his  affections  upon  his  native  land. 

Thus  to  be  embalmed  in  the  memory  of  man- 
kind, is  worthy  of  every  one's  aspiration.  It  is  a 
crown  of  immortality  such  as  Hale  himself,  had 
he  foreseen  it,  would  never  have  rejected — and 
which,  thanks  to  the  gratitude  which  his  life  and 
conduct,  wherever  known,  cannot  fail  to  enkindle, 
he  wears  now — glorious  upon  his  brow — and  will 
continue  to  wear,  brighter  and  brighter  still,  so 
long  as  time  and  posterity  exist  to  chronicle  the 
happy  years  of  our  Eepublic. 


APPENDIX 


A. 

Page  13. 

GENEALOGY  OP  THE  FAMILY  OF  CAPT.  NATHAN  HALE. 
By  Eec.  Edward  R  Hale  of  Worcester,  Mass. 

NATHAN  HALE  was  directly  descended  from  Robert  Hale 
of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  "Bay 
Colony,"  in  that  State. 

Robert  Hale  belonged  to  the  family  of  Hales  of  Kent, 
England.  There  were  in  England  at  that  time  at  least  three 
large  families  of  the  name,  belonging  to  different  parts  of 
the  kingdom.  These  were  the  Hales  of  Kent,  the  Hales  of 
Hertford,  and  the  Hales  of  Gloucestershire.  Of  the  last  of 
these  families  was  the  celebrated  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  who 
was  nearly  contemporary  with  Robert  Hale,  the  emigrant  to 
America,  having  been  born  in  1609,  and  died  in  1676. 

From  the  Hales  of  Hertfordshire  spring  the  family  of 
Thomas  Hale,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Newbury,  Massa- 


190  APPENDIX. 

chusetts.  Of  this  family  are  a  large  part  of  those  persons 
who  now  bear  the  name  of  Hale  in  New  England.* 

Robert  Hale  of  Charlestown,  and  his  descendants,  of  whom 
some  account  will  here  be  given,  retained  the  coat  of  arms 
of  the  Hale  family  of  Kent ;  to  which  therefore,  there  seems 
no  doubt,  that  they  belong,  t 

This  family  existed  in  Kent  as  early  at  least  as  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.  Nicholas  at  Hales,  then  resided  at  Bales- 
place,  Halden,  Kent.  His  son,  Sir  Robert  Hales,  was  Prior 
of  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  and  Lord  High  Treasurer  of 
England.  He  was  murdered  by  Wat  Tyler's  mob,  on  Tower 
Hill,  in  1381.  His  brother  Sir  Nicholas  de  Hales  was  the 
ancestor  of  three  subdivisions  of  the  family,  described  in 
Halsted's  Kent,  as  the  Hales  of  Kent,  of  Coventry,  and  of 
Essex. 

To  the  Kent  family  belonged, — we  may  say  in  passing 
down  to  the  emigration  of  Robert  Hales, — Sir  James  Hales, 
whose  suicide  by  drowning  led  to  the  "  case  of  Dame  Hales  " 
reported  by  Plowden,  and  commented  on  by  the  clowns  in 
Hamlet.  "  Sir  James  Hales  was  dead,  and  how  came  he  to 


*  In  the  memoir  of  the  late  David  Hale,  of  New  York,  nephew  of  Captain 
Nathan,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  their  descent  is  erroneously  attributed  to 
the  same  family.  Mr.  Thompson  undoubtedly  was  misled  by  the  impression  at 
one  time  entertained  by  our  distinguished  genealogist,  Mr.  Somerby,  that  Robert 
Hale  of  Charlestown  was  the  son  of  Richard  Hale,  the  High  Sheriff  of  Hert- 
fordshire. But  this  Robert  remained  in  England  at  least  as  late  as  1666. 

t  Gules,  three  broad  arrows  feathered  argent. 


GENEALOGY.  191 

his  death  ?  It  may  be  answered,  by  drowning ;  and  who 
drowned  him  ?  Sir  James  Hales ;  and  when  did  he  drown 
him?  In  his  life-time.  So  that  Sir  James  Hales,  being 
alive,  caused  Sir  James  Hales  to  die,  and  the  act  of  the  liv- 
ing man  was  the  death  of  the  dead  man.  And  then  for  this 
offence  it  is  reasonable  to  punish  the  living  man  who  com- 
mitted the  offence,  and  not  the  dead  man."  Such  and  much 
more  is  the  reasoning  of  one  of  the  judges,  which  is  directly 
alluded  to  by  Shakspeare  in  the  "  Crowner's  quest  Law " 
of  the  clowns  in  Hamlet. 

Of  the  same  family,  after  Robert  Hale  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, was  Sir  Edward  Hales,  the  loyal  companion  of  James 
II.  in  his  exile ; — made  by  him  Earl  of  Tenterden  and  Vis- 
count Tonstall. 

The  name  in  England  appears  to  have  been  spelt  now 
with  a  final  s — and  now  without.  Hale-place  near  Canter- 
bury, a  handsome  seat  now  occupied  by  the  family,  bears 
the  same  name  which  the  family  in  New  England  bears, — 
and  its  residents  spell  their  name  in  the  same  way. 

The  family  in  New  England  begins,  as  has  been  said,  with 

GEN.  I.  'Robert  Hale,  who  arrived  in  Massachusetts  in 
1632.  He  was  one  of  those  set  off  from  the  first  church  in 
Boston  to  form  the  first  church  in  Charlestown,  in  1632 ; — 
of  this  church  he  was  a  deacon.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade, — but  appears  to  have  also  had  a  gift,  which  has  been 
inherited  by  many  of  his  descendants,  for  the  practical  appli- 


192  APPENDIX. 

cation  of  the  mathematics.  For  he  was  regularly  employed 
by  the  General  Court  as  a  Surveyor  of  new  plantations, 
until  his  death,  which  took  place  July  19,  1659.  His  wife's 
name  was  Jane.  After  his  death  she  married  Richard  Jacob 
of  Ipswich,  and  died  July,  1679. 

Robert  Hale  had  the  following  children ; 

GEN.  II.  "Rev.  John  Hale ;  b.  June  3, 1636 ;  d.  May  15, 

1700;  "Mary;  b.  May  17,  1639;  m. Wilson;  4Zacha- 

riah;  b.  April  3,  1641 ;  d.  June  5, 1643;  'Samuel;  d.  1679. 
"Johanna;  b.  1638;  m.  John  Larkin;  d.  1685.  Of  these 

"Rev.  John  Hale,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1657. 
He  was  settled  as  the  first  minister  of  Beverly,  Mass.,  when 
the  first  church  of  Beverly  was  separated  from  Salem  in 
1667;  and  remained  in  this  charge  to  his  death.  He  was 
one  of  three  chaplains  to  the  unfortunate  New  England 
expedition  to  Canada  in  1690.  In  this  expedition  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  but  soon  released.  Two  years  after,  the 
Salem  witchcraft  excited  the  whole  province.  Mr.  Hale  was 
present  at  the  examinations  of  some  of  those  accused,  and 
participated  in  the  religious  exercises  at  their  trials.  But 
in  October,  a  person  in  "\Yenham  accused  Mrs.  Hale  of  witch- 
craft. The  accusation  disabused  him  of  any  delusion  he  had 
been  under,  and  not  only  him  but  the  whole  community. 
From  that  moment  the  whole  tide  turned, — and  the  progress 
of  infatuation  was  at  an  end.  In  1697,  he  wrote  and  pub- 
lished "  A  modest  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  witchcraft,  and 


GENEALOGY.  193 

how  persons  guilty  of  that  crime  may  be  convicted ;  and  the 
means  used  for  their  discovery  discussed,  both  negatively 
and  affirmatively  according  to  Scripture  and  experience." 
In  this  discussion  he  laments  the  errors  and  mistakes  of  what 
he  knew  as  the  "Witchcraft  delusion." 

He  was  three  times  married.  1st,  to  Rebeckah  Byles, 
daughter  of  Henry  Byles  of  Sarum,  England.  She  died 
April  13,  1683,  aet  45  years.  2nd,  Mar.  3,  1684,  to  Mrs. 
Sarah  Noyes,  of  Newbury.  She  died  May  20,  1695,  aet.  41 ; 
and  3rd,  Aug.  8, 1698,  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Clark  of  Newbury, 
who  survived  him.  By  the  first  two  of  these  wives  he  had 
the  following  children. 

GEN.  III.  1.  'Rebeckah;  b.  Apr.  28,  1666;  d.  May  7, 
1681.  2.  'Robert;  b.  Nov.  3,  1688;  d.  1719.  He  was  the 
father  of  Col.  Robert  Hale  of  Beverly,  who  accompanied 
Shirley  to  the  siege  of  Louisburg.  The  family  mansion  at 
Beverly  remains  in  the  family  of  his  descendants,  being 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  Bancroft.  The  male  line  in  this  family 
is  extinct. 

3.  "Rev.  James;    b.  Oct.  14,   1685;    d.  1742.     He  was 
minister  of  Ashford,  Connecticut,  and  left  a  son,  James 
Hale,  from  whom  a  large  family  descended.     Of  these  Rob- 
ert Hale,  b.  1749,  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolution, — and 
perhaps  others. 

4.  '"Samuel ;  b.  Aug.  13,  1687 ;  d.  about  1724. 

5.  "Johanna;  b.  June  18,  1689. 

17 


194  APPENDIX. 

6.  "John;  b.  Aug.  24,  1692.  He  was  drowned  by  the 
oversetting  of  a  boat  in  Wells  River, — the  only  person 
drowned  of  the  party,  though  the  best  swimmer.  He  left 
no  sons. 

Of  the  children  of  "Rev.  John  Hale,  the  fourth,  as  named 
above,  was  '"Samuel.  He  settled  in  Newbury,  Massachu- 
setts, where  on  the  26th  of  August,  1714,  he  married  Apphia 
Moody,  who  was  born  June  23, 1693.  He  lived  in  that  part 
of  Newbury  known  as  Newburyport,  and  there  all  his 
children  were  born.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Ports- 
mouth, where  he  died  about  the  year  1724.  His  children 
were 

GEN.  IV.  1.  "Joanna;  b.  June,  1715;  d.  about  1792; 
m.  Capt.  Stephen  Gerrish  of  Boscawen,  N.  H. 

2.  "Richard;  b.  Feb.  28,  1717;  d.  June  1,1802;  lived 
and  died  at  Coventry. 

3.  "Samuel;  b.  Aug.  24,  1718;— gr.  H.  0.1740;  d.  July 
10,  1807.     He  lived  and  died  at  Portsmouth. 

4.  "Hannah ;  b.  Jan.  24, 1720  ;  m.  Jos.  Atkinson  of  New- 
bury Jan.  23,  1744;  d.  about  1791. 

5.  "John;  b.  June  16,  1721-2;  d.  about  1787;  m. 

Of  "Richard,  the  second  of  these  children,  CAPT.  NATHAN 
HALE  was  the  son.  As  the  children  of  the  rest  were  there- 
fore his  cousins, — and  as  some  of  them  are  alluded  to  in  his 
correspondence,  we  add  their  names, — and  the  dates  of  their 
birth. 


GENEALOGY.  195 

Mrs.  "Joanna  Gerrish  and  Capt.  Stephen  Gerrish  had 
issue 

GEN.  V.  1.  '"Henry  Gerrish ;  b.  1742 ;  (at  the  date  of 
1777  he  had  seven  children.) 

2.  "Jenny;  m. Ames;  (at  the  date  of  1777  she 

had  two  children.) 

3.  ""Samuel  Gerrish;  b.  1748;  (at  the  date  of  1777  he 
had  two  children.)     Probably  this  was  Col.  Samuel  Gerrish, 
cashiered  for  conduct  unworthy  an  officer  at  Bunker's  Hill, 
and  Sewall's  Pt.,  Aug.  19,  1775 ; — a  sentence  pronounced 
by  the  J.  advocate*"  far  too  severe."     "When  the  battle  was 
fought  neither  he  nor  his  officers  were  commissioned. 

4.  "Enoch  Gerrish ;  b.  1750;  (at  the  date  of  1777  he  had 
two  children.) 

5.  M Gerrish  (a  Son,)  b.  1756 ;  d.  Aug.  24,  1777. 

"Richard  Hale ;    born  in  Newburyport  Feb.  28,  1717 ; 

removed  to  Coventry,  Connecticut; — where  he  lived,  and 
died  June  1,  1802.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Strong  Esq.,  of  that  place,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1746. 
She  died  April  21,  1767.  He  married  again,  "the  widow 
Adams"  of  Canterbury,  Ct.,  by  whom  he  had  no  issue. 
The  children  of  the  first  marriage  were 

GEN.  V.  1.  "Samuel;  b.  May  25,  1747;  d.  Apr.  1824; 
without  issue. 

2.  "Mohn  ;  b.  Oct.  21,  1748 ;  d.  Dec.  22,  1802 ;  without 
issue. 


196  APPENDIX. 

3.  "Joseph ;  b.  Mar.  12,  1750 ;  d.  Apr.  29,  1784. 

4.  "Elizabeth;  b.  Jan.  1,  1752;  d.  Oct.  31,  1813. 

5.  "Enoch;  b.  Oct  28,  1753;  d.  Jan.  4,  1837. 

6.  aeNATHAN;  b.  June  6,  1755  ;  executed  at  New  York 
Sept.  22,  1776. 

7.  "Richard;  b.  Feb.  20,  1757;  d.  Feb.,  1793. 

8.  30Billy ;  b.  Apr.  20,  1759 ;  m.  Hannah  Barker,  Jan.  19, 
1784;  d.  Sept.  7,  1785. 

9.  "David;       )  ( d.  Feb.  10,  1822. 

(  b.  Dec.  14-15,  1761 ;  4 

10.  "Jonathan ;  j  (  d.  Dec.  21,  1761. 

11.  "Joanna;  b.  March  19,  1764;  d.^pr.  22,  1838. 

12.  "Susanna;  b.  Feb.  1,  1766;  d.  March,  1766. 
"Samuel  Hale  of  Portsmouth;  b.  Aug.  24,  1718;  gr.  H. 

C.  1740 ;  d.  July,  1807.  He  taught  the  Grammar  School  at 
Portsmouth  for  many  years,  served  in  the  old  French  war, 
and  was  at  one  time  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  Court. 
He  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  "Wright  of  Ports- 
mouth. Their  children  were 

GEN.  V.     1.  "Samuel,  of  Barrington,  b.   1758;   d.  Apr. 
28,  1828. 

2.  "Thomas  Wright,  of  Barrington;  b.  1760. 

3.  "John;  b.  1764;  tutor  at  Harvard  College  from  1781 
to  1786 ;  d.  1791. 

4.  38 William;  b.  Aug.  6,  1765;    m.  Lydia  Rollins  Apr. 
30,  1794 ;  d.  Nov.  8,  1848,  at  Dover,  N.  H.,  where  he  had 
resided;  leaving  six  living  children.     He  represented  the 


GENEALOGY.  197 

State  in  Congress  six  years, — and  was  often  a  member  of 
the  State  Legislature. 

"Hannah  Hale;  b.  January  24,  1720;  m.  Joseph  Atkin- 
son of  Newbury,  Jan.  23,  1744.  They  lived  at  Boscawen, 
N.  H.,  where  she  died,  about  1791.  They  had  issue 

GEN.  V.     1.  39Samuel  Atkinson. 

2.  "Simeon  Atkinson. 

3.  "Susanna  Chadwick. 

4.  "Hannah  Atkinson. 

5.  "Sarah  Atkinson. 

17.  John  Hale;  b.  June  16,  1721-22.  He  lived  at  Glou- 
cester, (Cape  Ann,)  Mass.,  and  died  about  1787.  He  had 
issue 

GEN.  V.  1.  44Samuel  (of  Portsmouth) ;  who  m.  Lydia 
Parker.  Their  only  son,  John  Parker  Hale  Esq.,  settled  in 
Rochester,  N.  H.  He  married  Lydia  C.  O'Brien  of  New- 
buryport.  Hon.  John  Parker  Hale,  of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  is 
their  son. 

2.  "John. 

3.  "Benjamin. 

4.  47Ebenezer. 

5.  "Mane. 

6.  49Sally. 

7.  "Hannah. 

In  these  lists  of  the  fifth  Generation,  between  the  names 

numbered  18  and  50,  are  all  the  cousins  of  NATHAN  HALE; 
17* 


198  APPENDIX. 

and,  under  his  father's  family,  his  brothers  and  sisters.  He 
died  unmarried.  The  following  lists  give  the  names  of  the 
children  of  his  brothers  and  sisters. 

"Samuel  Hale ;  oldest  son  of  Dea.  Richard  Hale ;  b.  May 
25,  1747 ;  lived  at  Coventry,  and  died  without  issue,  Apr. 
17,  1824. 

24Maj.  John  Hale ;  second  son  of  Dea.  Richard  Hale ;  b. 
Oct.  21,  1748;  m.  Sarah  Adams,  at  Coventry,  Dec.  19,  1771, 
dau.  of  his  father's  second  wife.  They  lived  at  Coventry, 
where  he  died,  Dec.  22, 1802,  without  issue.  His  death  was 
sudden.  His  widow,  eager  to  carry  out  what  she  thought 
would  have  been  his  intentions,  bequeathed  £1000  to  Trust- 
ees, as  a  fund,  the  income  of  which  was  to  be  used  for  the 
support  of  young  men  preparing  for  Missionary  service, — 
and  in  part  for  founding  and  supporting  the  Hale  Library  in 
Coventry,  to  be  used  by  the  ministers  of  Coventry  and  the 
neighboring  towns.  She  died  Nov.,  1803,  in  less  than  one 
year  after  him. 

"Lieut.  Joseph  Hale ;  third  son  of  Dea.  R.  Hale ;  b.  Mar. 
12, 1750 ;  was  with  the  army  near  Boston,  and,  it  is  believed, 
to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  served  both  in  Knowlton's  and 
Webb's  regiments.  Soon  after  his  brother  Nathan's  death, 
he  was  in  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  and  a  ball  passed 
through  his  clothes.  Subsequently  he  was  for  a  long  time 
stationed  at  New  London,  where  he  became  acquainted  with 
Rebeckah  Harris,  daughter  of  Judge  Joseph  Harris  of  that 


GENEALOGY.  199 

place.  They  were  married  Oct.  21,  1778.  After  the  close 
of  his  service  he  settled  in  Coventry; — but  his  constitution, 
which  was  naturally  very  strong,  was  broken,  and  he  fell 
into  a  decline,  and  died  April  30,  1784,  leaving  four  child- 
ren— viz : 

GEN.  VI.  1.  "Elizabeth;  b.  Sept.  29,1779;  m.  Nov., 
1801,  Zebadiah  Abbot  of  Wilton,  N.  H. ;  d.  April,  1845. 
They  had  four  sons,  viz.,  Zebadiah,  Rufus,  Charles,  and 
Levi,  of  whom  the  second  and  fourth  graduated  at  Yale, 
and  the  third  at  Dartmouth  College, — and  five  daughters, 
viz.,  Eliza,  who  m.  Alva  Steele,  Mary,  who  m.  J.  F.  Russell, 
Nancy,  who  m.  George  M.  Hayward,  Caroline,  who  m. 
Henry  Abbot,  and  Lucy,  who  m.  William  Abbot. 

2.  "Rebeckah  ;  b.  Jan.  9,  1781 ;  m.  Oct  1799,  Dea.  Ezra 
Abbot  of  Wilton,  N.  H.     They  had  seven  sons  and  six 
daughters.     Of  the  sons,  one  died  in  infancy.     The  names 
of  the  remainder  are  Joseph  Hale,  Ezra,  Abiel,  Harris,  Nel- 
son, and  John — of  whom  three,  viz.,    Joseph,  Ezra,  and 
Abiel,  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College.     The  names  of  the 
daughters  are,  Rebeckah,  who  m.   Rev.  Isaac  Knight,  of 
Franklin,  N.  H.,  Dorcas,  who  m.  Eben  Bishop,  of  Lisbon, 
Ct,  Emily,  who  died  June  10th,  1835,   Harriet,  who  m. 
Herman  Abbot,  Abby  Ann,  who  m.  Rev.  L.  B.  Rockwood, 
of  Rocky  Hill,  Ct,  and  Sarah  Jane  Abbot. 

3.  "Mary  Hale;  b.  Nov.  23,  1782;  m.  in  1809,  Rev.  Levi 
Nelson  of  Lisbon,  Ct.     They  have  no  issue. 


200  APPENDIX. 

4.  B4Sarah  Hale;  b.  Nov.  27,  1783;  died  June  27,  1784 
"Elizabeth  Hale;  oldest  dau.  of  Dea.  R.  Hale;  b.  Jan.  1, 

1752;  was  married  Dec.  30,  1773,  to  Dr.  Samuel  Rose,  a 

Surgeon  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution.     He  was  son  of  Dr. 

Rose  of  Coventry.    He  died  in  the  winter  of  1800-1.    Their 

children  were 

GEN.  VI.     1.  "Capt.  Joseph  Rose;  b.  Sept.  17,  1774;  m. 

Milly  Sweatland ;  — settled  in  N.  Coventry  as  a  blacksmith. 

He  died  about  1835,  leaving  two  daughters,  viz.,  Eliza,  who 

m.  Jasper  Gilbert,  of  Coventry,  Ct,  and  Fanny,  who  m. 

Francis  Loomis,  now  of  Wethersfield,  Illinois. 

2.  "Nathan  Hale  Rose ;  b.  Nov.  18, 1776 ;  grew  up  on  the 
old  homestead  of  his  grandfather.     He  settled  on  the  farm 
previously  occupied  by  his  uncle  Richard.    He  married  1st, 
Eunice  Talcott,  daughter  of  Dea.  Talcott  of  N.  Coventry. 
She  died  after  a  few  years,  leaving  a  daughter  who  died 
young.     He  married  2nd,  the  widow  Lydia  F.  Perkins  of 
Lisbon,  Ct,  by  whom  he  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 
Of  these  children  but  one  survives,  viz.,  Richard  Hale  Rose, 
who  lives  in  Coventry,  Ct.     He  has  been  a  member  of  both 
branches  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut. 

3.  S7Fanny  Rose ;  b.  Jan.  4, 1779  ;  m.  Dec.,  1799,  Sandford 
Hunt  of  N.  Coventry;  and  died  Feb.  6,  1845 — "an  excel- 
lent woman."     They  settled    in   Batavia,  N.  Y.     Of  their 
family   of  children   is   Hon.    Washington   Hunt   of   New 
York, — and  Lt.  Hunt  of  the  IT.  S.  army. 


GENEALOGY.  201 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  Samuel  Rose,  his  widow,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Rose,  married  John  Taylor  of  Coventry.  She 
died  Oct.  81,  1813.  Their  children  were 

1.  "Elizabeth  Taylor ;  m.   Nathaniel  Hubbard,  of  Ver- 
non,  and  afterwards  of  Manchester,  Ct. 

2.  *9David   Taylor ;  married  and   died  in   New  York — 
leaving  two   children,    viz.,  David,  who   died  young,  and 
Maria,  who  married Williams,  of  Nunda,  New  York. 

"'Enoch  Hale ;  fourth  son  of  Deacon  R.  Hale ;  b.  Oct.  28, 
1753  ;  entered  Yale  College  with  his  brother  Nathan  1769  ; 
gr.  1773 ;  studied  Theology,  and  on  the  28th  of  Sept.,  1779, 
was  ordained  as  minister  of  Westhampton,  Mass.,  where  he 
died  Jan.  14,  1837,  after  an  energetic  and  useful  ministry 
of  more  than  fifty-seven  years.  He  was  deeply  attached 
to  his  brother  Nathan,  and  profoundly  affected  by  his  fate. 
He  married  Sept.  30,  1781,  Miss  Octavia  Throop  of  Bozrah, 
Conn.,  dau.  of  Rev.  Mr.  Throop  of  that  place.  She  died 
Aug.  18,  1839.  Their  children  were 

GEN.  VI.  1.  '"Sally  Hale ;  b.  Aug.  2,  1782 ;  m.  Elisha  B. 
Clapp  of  Westhampton,  Nov.  27,  1800 ;  d.  Feb.  7,  1838— 
leaving  seven  children,  viz.,  Clarissa  (Ludden,)  Otis,  Elisha, 
Melissa  (Smith,)  Washington,  Sally  (Me  Call,)  Octavia  (Boy- 
den.) 

2.  "Nathan  Hale;  b.  Aug.  16,  1784;  m.  Sarah  Preston 
Everett  of  Boston,  Sept.  5,  1816.  Their  issue  will  be 
found  under  Gen.  VII.  of  Hales. 


202  APPENDIX. 

3.  "Melissa  Hale ;  b.  Feb.  26,  1786 ;  m.  Sept.  27,  1809, 
Henry  Me  Call  of  Lebanon,  Ct.     Their  children  are  Charles, 
(Coventry,  Conn.)  ;  Enoch,   (Windsor,  Conn.,)  m.  Clarissa 
Backus ;   George,  m.  Harriet  West,  and  died  1844 ;  Jacob, 
b.   1817,  d.   1822;    Henry  Strong;  Jacob,  m.  Jane  Ells- 
worth ;    Hobart,  m.  Sarah  Clapp ;  David,  m. Foote ; 

Melissa. 

4.  ""Octavia  Hale ;  b.  May  13, 1788;  m.  Dec.  19,  1811, 
William  Hooker  of  Westfield,  Mass.     Their  children  are 
Lucy,  b.  Sept.  28, 1812 ;  d.  April  17, 1839  ;  William  Throop, 
Hooker,  Pres.  Continental  Bank,  N.  Y.,  b.  March  21,  1815 ; 
Henry  Hooker,  Cashier  of  Westfield  Bank,  Mass.,  b.  June 
27,  1820;  Edward  Hooker,  New  York,  b.  Aug.  7.  1822. 

5.  "Enoch  Hale  ;  b.  Jan.  19,  1790  ;  m.  1st,  Sept.  6, 1813, 
Almira  Hooker  ;  2nd,  May,  1822,  Sarah  Hooker  ;  3rd,  May 
1829,  Jane   Murdock;  d.    Nov.  12,    1848,    without  issue. 
He  studied  chemistry  and  medicine,  at  Yale   College,  and 
at  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  and  took  his  degree  of  M.D. 
at  Cambridge,  Aug.  20,  1813.     He   practiced  with  distin- 
guished success  for  a  few  years  in  Gardner,  Mass.,  and  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  in   Boston.     A  memoir  of  him,  by  Dr. 
Walter  Channing,  was  printed  after  his  death. 

6.  "Richard  Hale ;  b.  July  2,  1792 ;  m.  Dec.  28,  1815, 
Lydia  Rust,   who  died  Jan.  10.   1837.     He  d.   in   1839. 
Their  issue  will  be  found  under  Gen.  VII.  of  Hales. 

7.  "Betsey   Hale;  b.    June   2,  1704;  m.    July  2,  1818, 


GENEALOGY.  203 

Lcvi  Burt  of  Westhampton.  They  have  had  eight  chil- 
dren, viz.,  Levi  Lyman,  b.  Apr.  10,  1819,  died  185- ;  a 
child  b.  June  10,  d.  June  11,  1821;  Martha,  b.  May  14, 
1822,  m.  Wooster Edwards;  Joel,  b.  Aug.  3, 1824 ;  Francis,  b. 
Feb.  17, 1827  ;  Susan,  b.  Sept.  1824,  m.  —  Clapp,  1852  ;  Geo. 
b.  Oct.  11,  1831  ;  and  Enoch  Hale,  b.  Mar.  27,  1834. 

8.  "Sybilla  Hale;  b.  Sept  3,1797;  m.  1819,  Richard- 
son Hall.  They  have  had  ten  children,  viz.,  Sarah,  b.  Dec. 
14,  1819;  m.  Oct.  10,  1844,  Henry  Hooker;  John  R.,  b. 
Aug.  26,  1821;  Charles,  b.  June  14,  1823;  d.  Nov.  14, 
1849 ;  Almira,  b.  March  17,  1825  ;  m.  June  5,  1850,  Ed- 
ward Dewey;  William  Hooker,  b.  March  17,  1827;  Ed- 
ward, b.  Dec.  9,  1829;  Isabella,  b.  Sept.  30,  1832;  d.  Aug. 
11,1833;  Isabella,  b.  May  23,1834;  d.  Feb.  16,  1853; 
Mary  E.,  b.  Sept  18, 1836;  and  Henry  T.  b.  Dec.  14,  1839. 

'"NATHAN  HALE,  the  subject  of  the  preceding  memoir, 
died  without  issue,  as  already  stated. 

'"Richard  Hale ;  sixth  son  of  Deacon  Richard  Hale  ;  b. 
Feb.  20,  1757;  m.  Mar.  16,  1786,  Mary  Wright  of  Coven- 
try; he  died  Feb.,  1793,  at  St.  Eustatia  in  the  W.  Indies. 
His  health  had  failed  him, — and  he  had  taken  a  voyage  in 
hope  of  recovery.  They  had  issue 

GEN.  VI.  1.  «8Mary  Hale ;  b.  July  6,  1787 ;  d.  Dec.  10, 
1791. 

2.  "Laura  Hale ;  b.  Aug.  30,  1789 ;  m.  her  cousin  Da- 
vid Hale,  then  of  Boston ;  (No.  72,  post.) 


204  APPENDIX. 

3.  TOMaiy ;  b.  Jan.  25,  1791 ;  d.  Oct.  2,  1793. 

After  the  death  of  Richard  Hale,  his  widow  married  Na- 
than Adams  of  Canterbury,  Conn.,  son  of  her  father-in-law's 
second  wife.  They  had  no  issue.  She  died  in  1820. 

30Billy  Hale ;  seventh  son  of  Deacon  Richard  Hale ;  b. 
Apr.  23, 1759  ;  m.  Jan.  19,  1784,  Hannah  Barker  of  Frank- 
lin. He  died  of  consumption  in  1785, — leaving  one  son. 

GEN.  VI.     1.  7 'Billy;  died  in  early  life. 

31David  Hale  ;  eighth  son  of  Deacon  Richard  Hale ;  b. 
Dec.  14,  1761 ;  graduated  at  Yale  College,  1785  ;— settled 
as  a  minister  in  Lisbon,  Ct.  He  m.  May  19,  1790,  Lydia 
Austin,  b.  Dec.  9,  1764 ;  daughter  of  Samuel  Austin  of 
New  Haven.  In  1804,  in  poor  health,  he  was  dismissed 
from  the  church  in  Lisbon,  and  removed  to  Coventry, 
where  he  became  a  Deacon  of  the  church  in  1806.  He 
was  also  Representative  of  the  town,  and  Justice  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  died  Feb.  10,  1822.  His 
widow  died  April  28,  1849.  They  had  issue  one  child, 
viz : 

GEN.  VI.  1.  "David  Hale  ;  b.  Apr.  25,  1791  ;  m.  1st,  his 
cousin  Laura  Hale,  (No.  69,  above,)  Jan.  18,  1815.  She 
died  July  25,  1824.  He  m.  2nd,  Aug.  22,  1825,  Lucy  S. 
Turner  of  Boston. 

88 Joanna  ;  second  daughter  of  Deacon  Richard  Hale  ;  b. 
March  19,  1764 ;  m.  Jan.  22,  1784,  Dr.  Nathan  Howard  of 
Coventry.  He  died  Apr.  21,  1838,  at  the  age  of  77  years, 


GENEALOGY.  205 

and  she  the  next  day.     They  had   nine  children,  all  of 
whom  died  in  early  childhood  except, 

GEN.  VI.  1.  TSJohn  Howard;  b.  Nov.  10,  1784;  m. 
Lucy  Ripley,  dau.  of  Judge  Ripley  of  Coventry ;  d.  March 
30,  1813.  Their  sons  are  John  Ripley  Howard,  and  Chaun- 
cey  Howard,  the  former  of  whom  lives  in  Coventry,  Conn., 
and  the  latter  in  Hartford,  Conn., — where  he  has  been 
Clerk  of  the  Superior  and  County  Courts,  a  member  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  is  at  present  Treasurer  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  People's  Savings  Bank.  He  is  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, and,  like  his  brother,  is  unmarried. 

2.  "Nathan  Howard  ;  b.  March  20,  1795, — unmarried. 

Of  the  families  of  those  of  Capt  Nathan  Bale's  nephews 
who  bore  his  name,  we  can  give  the  following  memo- 
randa. 

"Nathan  Hale  ;  1st  son  of  "Rev.  Enoch  Hale ;  b.  Aug. 
16,  1784;  gr.  Williams  College,  1804,  L.  L.  D.,  Harvard 
Univ.,  1853.  He  has  conducted  for  more  than  forty  years 
the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser.  The  active  labors  of  his  life 
have  been  largely  devoted  to  the  Internal  Improvements  of 
various  States  in  America.  He  married,  Sept.  5,  1816,  Sarah 
Preston  Everett,  second  daughter  of  Rev.  Oliver  Everett, 
minister  of  the  new  South  Church,  Boston.  Their  children 
are  . 

GEN.  VII.     1.  "Sarah  Everett  Hale  ;  b.  July  8,  1817;  d. 

May  16,  1851. 

18 


206  APPENDIX.- 

2.  "Nathan  Hale  ;  b.   Nov.    12,   1818 ;  gr.   Harv.  ColL 
1838.     Co-editor  of  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

3.  "Lucretia  Peabody  Hale  ;  b.  Sept.  2.  1820. 

4.  "Edward  Everett  Hale  ;  b.  Apr.  3, 1822  ;  gr.  Harvard 
College  1839  ;  minister  of  the  Church  of  the  Unity,  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  m.  Oct.  13,  1852,  Emily  Baldwin  Perkins,  b. 
Nov.  22,   1830,  daughter   of  Hon.  Thomas  C.  Perkins,  of 
Hartford,  Conn. 

5.  '"A  son;  born  and  died  Apr.  3,  1824. 

6.  80 Alexander  Hale  ;  born  June  21,  1825  ;  died  Jan.  7, 
1826. 

7.  81Susan  Hale;  born  April  17,   1827;    died  Nov.  13, 
1833. 

8.  ""Alexander;  b.  July  1,   1829;  gr.  Harv.  Coll.,  1848; 
a  civil  engineer ; — lost  in  Pensacola  harbor,  in   an  attempt 
to  rescue  a  shipwrecked  crew,  Aug.  22,  1850. 

9.  83Charles;  b.  June   7,  1831;    gr.  Harv.  Coll.,  1850. 
Co-editor  in  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

10.  84Susan  Hale ;  b.  Dec.  5,  1833. 

11.  "Jane  Hale;  b.  Mar.  6,  1837 ;  d.  Jan.  27,  1838. 
"Richard  Hale ;  3rd  son  of  27Rev.  Enoch  Hale  ;  b.  July 

2, 1792  ;  m.  Dec.  28,   1815,  Lydia  Rust     She   d.  Jan.  10, 
1837.     He  lived  at  Westhampton,  and  d.  in  1839. 

Their  Children  are 

GE*.  VII.     1.  86Philetus   C.  Hale;  b.   Oct.  5,  1816;  m. 


GENEALOGY.  207 

Dec.  19,  1839,   Nancy  H.  Bannister,  daughter  of  Jotham 
and  Electa  Bannister,  Newburyport,  Mass. 

2.  "Augustus  E.  Hale;  b.  Aug.  18,  1818  ;  m.  1841,  Ad- 
alyie  G.  Smith,   dau.   of  Abram   and  Mary  Smith,  of  Sea- 
brook,  N.  H. 

3.  88Mary  Hale  ;  b.    Sept  4,  1820  ;  m.  Rev.  Melzar  Mon- 
tague— now  of  Wisconsin. 

4.  "'Laura;  b.  Apr.  3rd,  1825;  died  at  Westfield,  Mass., 
Apr.  1855. 

"David  Hale,  only  son  of 3 'Rev.  David  Hale  ;  b.  Apr.  25, 
1791 ;  m.  1st,  his  cousin  Laura  Hale,  (No.  69  above,)  Jan. 
18,  1815.  She  died  July  25,  1824.  He  married  2nd,  Aug. 
22,  1825,  Lucy  S.  Turner  of  Boston.  The  beginning  of 
his  active  life  was  spent  in  Boston,  in  mercantile  occupa- 
tions ;  but  in  1826  he  removed  to  New  York.  Here  he  be- 
came the  business  partner  in  the  management  of  the  Jour- 
nal of  Commerce  newspaper, — and  in  the  charge  of  that 
Journal,  and  in  his  active  and  earnest  efforts  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  Congregational  churches  and  other  religious 
and  charitable  enterprises,  became  widely  known  and  highly 
esteemed.  His  life,  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Thompson,  was  publish- 
ed in  1850.  His  children  are 

GEN.  VII.  1.  90Mary  Hale;  b.  Mar.  11,  1816;  m.  May 
27,  1839,  J.  N.  Stickney— now  of  Rockville,  Ct 

2.  "Lydia  Hale;  b.  May  27,  1818;  m.  Apr.  23,  1838, 
Dr.  T.  T.  Devan  of  New  York ; — accompanied  him  to  Can- 


208  APPENDIX. 

ton  as  a  missionary ;    and   died   without   issue   Oct.  18, 
1846. 

3.  "Richard   Hale ;  b.  May  24,  1820 ;    m.    Oct.  28,  1844, 
Miss  Julia  Newlin. 

4.  "David  Austin  Hale;  b.   Sept.  3,  1822;  m.  Sept.  3, 
1849,  Miss  M.  I.  Simonds  of  Athol,  Mass. 

5.  "Lucy  Turner   Hale;  b.   July    9,1826;  m.    May  20, 
1846,  Stephen  Conover,  Jr.,  of  New  York. 

6.  "Laura  Hale ;  b.  Aug.  22,  1828;  m.  Dec.  21,  1848,  J. 
W.  Camp  of  New  York. 

7.  "Charlotte  Hale;  born  April  6,  1832. 

8.  "Martha  Louisa  Hale;  b.  Aug.  5,   1834;  d.   Jan.  8, 
1836. 

In  the  next  generation,  the  Hales,  who  descend  from 
Capt.  Nathan  Hale's  brothers,  are  in  the  following  lists. 

"Edward  Everett  Hale;  b.  Apr.  3,1822;  m.  Oct.  13, 
1852,  Emily  Baldwin  Perkins  of  Hartford.  They  reside  at 
"Worcester,  Mass.,  and  have  issue 

GEN.  VIII.     "Ellen  Day  Hale ;  b.  Feb.  11,  1855. 

"Philetus  Hale;  b.  Oct.  5,  1816;  m.  Dec.  19,  1839, 
Nancy  H.  Bannister.  They  reside  at  Milwaukie,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  have  issue 

GEN.  VIII.  1.  "Edward  Augustus  Hale ;  b.  Sept.  26, 
1840. 

2.  ""William  Richard  Hale;  b.  Aug.  28,  1842  ;  d.  Feb.  6. 
1843. 


GENEALOGY.  209 

3.  mWilliam  Henry  Hale;  b.   July  8,  1845;  d.  Jan.  12, 
1846. 

4.  mMary  Bannister   Hale ;  b.  July  22,  1846 ;  d.   June 
26,  1851. 

5.  ""John  Philetus  Hale  ;  b.  Aug.  23,  1850. 

6.  104Louise  Randall  Hale;  b.  July  9,  1853. 
"Augustus   Hale;  b.  Aug.    18,  1818;  m.  1841,  Adaline 

G.  Smith.     They  reside   in  "Westhampton,  Mass.,  and  have 
issue 

GEN.  VIII.     1.  105Laura  Anna  Hale  ;  b.  August  12,  1842  ; 
d.  Mar.  13,  1843. 

2.  106Frank  Augustus  Hale;  b.  Jan.  28,  1844. 

3.  107Eugene  Turner  Hale  ;  b.  May  22,  1846. 

4.  '""George  Wellington  Hale  ;  b.  Sept.  1840. 

5.  109Isabella  Eloise  Hale;  b.  May  28,  1S53. 
"'Richard   Hale;  b.    May  24,    1820;  m.    Oct.  28,    1844, 

Miss  Julia   Newlin.     They  reside  in   Ne\v  York,  and  have 
issue 

GEX.  VIII.  ""Louisa  N«wlin  Hale;  b.  July  22,  1845. 

2.  luLydia  Devan  Hale  ;  b.  Sept.  7,  1846. 

3.  112David  Hale;  b.  Mar.  7,  1849;  d.  Jan.  28,  1853. 
"David  Austin  Hale;  b.  Sept.  3,  1822;  m.  Sept.  3,  1849, 

Miss  M.  I.  Simonds.     They   reside  in  New  York.     Their 
only  child  was 

GEN.  VIII.  "'William  Nelson  Hale ;  b.  June   20,  1850 ; 

d.  July  15,  1855. 

18* 


210  APPENDIX. 

This  brings  the  list  of  Hales  of  Richard  Hale's  family  up 
to  the  present  time.  It  would  have  been  agreeable  to  have 
extended  it  farther  by  inserting  the  names  of  all  the  des- 
cendants of  this  venerable  man,  of  whatever  name.  But 
this  would  have  required  more  space  than  is  at  our  com- 
mand ;  while  we  should  have  assumed  a  duty  which  will 
be  gratefully  performed,  we  doubt  not,  by  the  genealogists 
of  the  respective  families  whose  names  these  cousins  bear. 


B. 

Page  14. 
OF  MALE'S  FATHER. 

DEACON  HALE  possessed  in  addition  to  the  qualities  men- 
tioned in  the  text,  remarkable  physical  energy — a  character- 
istic which  his  son  Nathan  amply  inherited.  He  was  of  the 
medium  height,  compactly  built,  and  muscular — and  in 
these  respects  too  Nathan  resembled  his  father,  though  the 
figure  of  the  son  was  more  comely,  and  singularly  exact  in 
its  proportions.  The  activity  of  Deacon  Hale  was  even 
restless.  He  was  what  is  called  in  common  parlance, 
"«  driver."  Such  was  his  eagerness  to  be  at  work,  in  the 
farming  season,  that,  almost  habitually,  he  would  finish  his 
meals  before  the  rest  of  the  family — rise — return  thanks — 
and  then  immediately  withdraw  to  the  labors  of  the  field, 
leaving  his  household  to  sit  down  again  at  the  table,  and 
complete  their  repast.  His  step-daughter  Alice  Adams — 
afterwards  Mrs.  Lawrence — used  frequently  to  say  that  she 
"  never  saw  a  man  work  so  hard  for  both  worlds  as  Deacon 
Hale!" 


212  APPENDIX. 

His  activity  is  further  illustrated  in  the  following  some- 
what amusing  incident  furnished  us  by  J.  F.  Judd  Esquire, 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut — a  gentleman  who  was  born  and 
brought  up  in  near  vicinity  to  the  Hale  homestead. 

In  the  haying  season,  Deacon  Hale  hired  a  tall,  brawny 
countryman,  of  uncommon  strength,  to  help  him  house  his 
crop.  When  in  the  field,  he  took  upon  himself  the  task  of 
loading  the  hay  upon  the  cart,  and  directed  the  freshly  hired 
laborer  to  pitch  it  up  to  him.  The  latter  began  his  work 
rather  slowly,  and  Deacon  Hale  very  soon  called  out  to  him — 
"  More  hay  !  "  This  call  he  repeated  three  or  four  times,  as 
cock  after  cock  of  hay  was  still  somewhat  lazily  passed  up 
to  him — until  finally  his  tardy  helper — becoming  sensible 
that  his  dilatoriness  was  thus  rebuked — set  himself  to  work 
with  increased  energy,  and  at  last  pitched  the  hay  up  so 
rapidly,  that  his  employer  was  unable  to  place  it  aright  upon 
the  cart.  Very  soon,  therefore,  the  whole  load  slipped  off 
in  one  large  mass  upon  the  ground,  and  bore  worthy  Mr. 
Hale  helplessly  along  with  it.  "  What  do  you  want,  Dea- 
con?"— inquired  at  once  the  Hercules  by  his  side,  with  a 
self-satisfied  and  half-mocking  air.  "  More  hay  !"  instantly 
replied  the  undiscomfited  deacon — and  scrambling  up,  he 
nimbly  replaced  himself  upon  the  cart. 


c. 

Page  24. 
BALE'S  LINONIAN  SOCIETY  SPEECH. 

The  Speech,  or  Address,  of  which  we  have  given  a  brief 
synopsis  in  the  text,  was  delivered  by  Hale  when  he  was 
but  a  boy  of  about  seventeen — and  though  not,  of  course, 
a  matured  production,  it  is  yet  of  so  much  interest — in  the 
paucity  of  other  compositions  from  his  pen — that  we  are 
tempted  to  preserve  a  few  of  its  paragraphs  here,  just  as 
they  were  written.  "We  take  then,  first,  a  passage  hi  which 
he  compliments  the  retiring  members  of  the  Society.  It  is, 
verbatim,  as  follows : 

"  The  high  opinion  we  ought  to  maintain  of  the  ability  of 
these  worthy  Gentlemen,  as  well  as  the  regard  they  express 
for  Linonia  and  her  Sons,  tends  very  much  to  increase  our 
desire  for  their  longer  continuance.  Under  whatsoever 
character  we  consider  them,  we  have  the  greatest  reason  to 
regret  their  departure.  As  our  patrons,  we  have  shared 
their  utmost  care  and  vigilance  in  supporting  Linonia's  cause, 


214  APPENDIX. 

and  protecting  her  from  the  malice  of  her  insulting  foes.  As 
our  benefactors,  we  have  partaken  of  their  liberality,  not 
only  in  their  rich  and  valuable  donations  to  our  library,  but, 
what  is  still  more,  their  amiable  company  and  conversation. 
But  as  our  friends,  what  inexpressible  happiness  have  we 
experienced  in  their  disinterested  love  and  cordial  affection ! 
"We  have  lived  together  not  as  fellow-students  and  members 
of  the  same  college,  but  as  brothers  and  children  of 
the  same  family ;  not  as  superiors  and  inferiors,  but 
rather  as  equals  and  companions.  The  only  thing  which 
hath  given  them  the  preeminence  is  their  superior  knowl- 
edge in  those  arts  and  sciences  which  are  here  cultivated, 
and  their  greater  skill  and  prudence  in  the  management  of 
such  important  affairs  as  those  which  concern  the  good  order 
and  regularity  of  this  Society.  Under  the  prudent  conduct 
of  these  our  once  worthy  patrons,  but  now  parting  friends, 
things  have  been  so  wisely  regulated,  as  that  while  we  have 
been  entertained  with  all  the  pleasures  of  familiar  conversa- 
tion, we  have  been  no  less  profited  by  our  improvements  in 
useful  knowledge  and  literature." 

"  Kind  and  generous  Sirs  " — Hale  proceeds  in  a  few  sen- 
tences which  we  quote  from  his  concluding  direct  address 
to  the  parting  members — "  it  is  with  the  greatest  reluctance 
that  we  are  now  all  obliged  to  bid  adieu  to  you  our  dearest 
friends.  Fain  would  we  ask  you  longer  to  tarry — but  it  is 
otherwise  determined,  and  we  must  comply.  Accept  then 


HALE'S    SPEECH.  215 

our  sincercst  thanks,  as  some  poor  return  for  your  disinter- 
ested zeal  in  Linonia's  cause,  and  your  unwearied  pains  to 
suppress  her  opposers.  *  *  Be  assured  that  we  shall  be 
spirited  in  Linonia's  cause,  and  with  steadiness  and  resolu- 
tion strive  to  make  her  shine  with  unparalleled  lustre.  *  * 
Be  assured  that  your  memory  will  always  be  very  dear  to 
us ;  that  although  hundreds  of  miles  should  interfere,  you 
will  always  be  attended  with  our  best  wishes.  May  Provi- 
dence protect  you  in  all  your  ways,  and  may  you  have  pros- 
perity in  all  your  undertakings !  May  you  live  long  and 
happily,  and  at  last  die  satisfied  with  the  pleasures  of  this 
world,  and  go  hence  to  that  world  where  joy  shall  never 
cease,  and  pleasures  never  end ! — Dear  Gentlemen,  fare- 
well !  " 

"Whatever  may  be  thought  of  these  passages  from  Hale 
in  other  respects,  it  will  be  conceded,  we  think,  that  they 
manifest  simplicity  of  style,  directness  of  expression,  and 
great  warmth  of  heart. 


D. 

Page  26. 
BALE'S  CLASSMATES. 

The  following,  from  a  Yale  College  Catalogue,  is  a  com- 
plete list  of  Bale's  classmates. 

"  1773.  Rogerus  Alden,  Mr.  et  Columb.  Elisaeus  Atkins, 
Mr.  Gamaliel  Babcock.  Baruchus  Beckwith,  Mr.  Thaddeus 
Benedict,  Mr.  Abrahamus  Camp,  Mr.  Gulielmus  Chandler, 
Mr.  Daniel  Cooley.  Samuel  Dwight,  Mr.  Johannes  Fairchild, 
Mr.  Royal  Flint,  Mr.,  et  Harv.  Bildad  Fowler.  Isaacus  Grid- 
ley,  Mr.  Johannes  Gurley.  Enochus  Hale,  Mr.  Nathan  Hale, 
Mr.  Joel  Hayes,  Mr.  Jacobus  Hillhouse,  Mr.,  Thesaur.,  e 
Cong.,  Rerumpub.  Feed.  Sen.,  C.  A.  S.  L.  L.  D.  Stephanus 
Keyes.  Samuel  Leonard,  Mr.,  et  Harv.  Gershom  Clark  Lyman, 
Mr.,  S.  T.  D.  Mid.  Elihu  Marvin.  Thomas  Mead,  Mr.  Noa- 
chus  Merwin,  Mr.  Samuel  Montgomery.  Johannes  Nichols, 
Mr.  Samuel  Parsons,  Mr.  Gulielmus  Robinson,  Mr.,  et  Tut. 
Ezra  Sampson.  Ezra  Selden.  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  Mr.,  e 
Cong.,  Gulielmus  Townsend,  Mr.  Newtonus  Whittlesey,  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Williams.  Joshua  Lamb  Woodbridge.  Johannes 
Palsgrave  Wyllys,  Mr."  Of  the  above,  twenty-one  were, 
with  Hale,  members  of  the  Linonian  Society. 


E. 

Page  26. 
SKETCH  OF  BENJAMIN  TALLMADGE. 

SINGULARLY  enough,  it  was  into  the  hands  of  Benjamin 
Tallmadge,  Hale's  classmate  in  college,  that  Hale's  counter- 
part, the  British  spy  Andre,  was  committed  for  custody, 
from  the  time  of  his  capture  down  to  that  of  his  execution. 
This  fact,  and  his  intimate  companionship  with  the  hero  of 
our  biography,  lead  us  to  present  a  brief  sketch  of  him 
here. 

He  was  born  at  Brookhaven,  upon  Long  Island,  New 

York,  on  the  25th  of  February,  1754,  and  was  therefore  one 

% 

year  older  than  Hale.  Like  the  latter,  he  was  active,  intel- 
ligent, fond  of  study,  and  entered  college  at  a  very  early 
age.  Like  Hale,  and  united  with  him  in  the  same  academi- 
cal honor,  after  graduating,  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  a 
teacher,  in  a  school  of  high  grade — at  Wethersfield,  Con- 
necticut— from  which  place  he  carried  on  assiduously  that 
correspondence  with  the  former  which  we  have  seen  him 

commence  in  college.     Like  Hale,  an  ardent  lover  of  his 
19 


218  APPENDIX. 

country,  and  attached  to  it  from  principle — leaving  the 
charge  of  his  school  for  the  field  of  arms,  he  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  his  native  land  as  a  lieutenant — but  a  few  months 
later  than  his  friend — in  1776,  and  in  Colonel  Chester's  regi- 
ment. Unlike  Hale,  he  was  spared  to  rise  rapidly  in  his 
military  profession.  He  became  a  highly  prominent  and 
accomplished  officer — served  through  the  entire  war — and 
emerged  from  it  a  colonel.  He  was  soon  made  adjutant  to 
Colonel  Chester — and  next  captain  of  the  first  troop  in  the 
second  regiment  of  light  dragoons.  His  appearance  on 
horseback,  we  are  informed  from  various  sources,  was  very 
striking.  Of  a  tall  and  portly  figure,  no  officer  in  the  army, 
U  is  said,  had  a  more  noble  and  commanding  presence. 

He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Long  Island,  and  of 
White  Plains.  In  1777,  he  was  promoted  to  a  majority — 
took  his  station  as  a  field  officer — and  was  present  at  the 
battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantown,  White  Marsh,  and 
Monmouth.  In  1779,  he  distinguished  himself  by  breaking 
up  a  horde  of  marauding  tory  bandits  at  Lloyd's  Neck-- 
arid in  1780,  still  more,  by  carrying  Fort  St.  George,  upon 
Long  Island,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  For  this  last  gal- 
lant service,  he  received  the  special  thanks  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-chief, and  of  Congress.  It  was  accomplished 
with  less  than  one  hundred  dismounted  dragoons — just  at 
break  of  day — and  with  such  overwhelming  force,  that  in 
less  than  ten  minutes  the  stockade  was  cut  down — the 


BENJAMIN     TALL  MADGE.  219 

column  led  through  the  grand  parade — and  the  main  fort 
was  in  possession  of  the  attacking  party.  "  The  works, 
shipping,  and  stores  were  then  destroyed ;  and  while  the 
troops  were  marching  to  their  boats  with  their  prisoners — 
equal  in  numbers  to  themselves — Major  Tallmadge  with  ten 
or  twelve  men,  mounted  on  captured  horses,  proceeded  to 
Coram  and  destroyed  an  immense  magazine  of  forage,  and 
returned  to  the  place  of  debarkation  just  as  the  party  with 
their  prisoners  had  reached  the  same  spot.  Here  they  re- 
freshed themselves  for  an  hour,  and  before  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  were  again  afloat  on  their  return.  They  arrived 
at  Fairfield  that  night  without  the  loss  of  a  man." 

It  was  from  service  of  this  kind — from  a  station  on  Long 
Island  Sound,  by  particular  direction  of  Washington,  to 
protect  its  coast  from  illicit  trade  and  intercourse,  and  from 
British  foraging  parties — that  in  1780,  Major  Tallmadge 
returned  to  North  Castle  on  the  evening  of  the  very  day 
upon  which  Andre  was  brought  in  to  this  military  post — 
and  he  was  the  first — from  observing  the  deportment  of  the 
prisoner — from  watching  the  manner  in  which  he  walked  to 
and  fro  on  the  floor,  and  turned  his  heel  to  retrace  his  steps 
— to  suspect  that  he  was  bred  to  arms,  and  was  an  import- 
ant British  officer.  From  this  time  forward,  down  to  that 
of  the  execution  of  Andre,  Major  Tallmadge  was  charged 
with  his  custody,  and  was  almost  constantly  with  him.  He 
commanded  the  escort  that  conducted  him  to  Lower  Salem. 


220  APPENDIX. 

It  was  into  his  hands  that  Andre  there  placed,  for  perusal, 
his  first  letter  to  General  Washington,  acknowledging  his 
true  character.  It  was  under  his  charge  again,  with  a 
strong  guard,  that  Andre  was  removed  to  Robinson's  House 
— and  thence  to  West  Point — thence  down  the  river  in' a 
barge  to  Stony  Point — thence  under  an  escort  of  cav- 
alry to  Tappan — and  thence,  from  the  Stone  House  in  which 
he  had  been  confined,  Major  Tallmadge  "  walked  with  him 
to  the  place  of  execution,  and  parted  with  him  under  the 
gallows" — "overwhelmed  with  grief,"  he  says,  "that  so 
gallant  an  officer  and  so  accomplished  a  gentleman  should 
come  to  such  an  ignominious  end." 

He  has  left  us  a  picture — a  deeply  interesting  one — of  his 
captive,  and  of  his  own  intercourse  with  him — in  a  narra- 
tive which  is  published  in  the  Life  of  Arnold  by  Jared 
Sparks* — and  in  one  passage  of  this  narrative  he  introduces 
the  name  and  fate  of  his  own  "much-loved  classmate" 
Hale,  in  a  manner,  and  under  circumstances,  truly  touching 
and  impressive.  The  following  is  the  passage — which, 
though  it  anticipates  the  course  of  our  own  narrative  of 
Hale,  we  give  here  because  of  its  particular  connection  with 
this  sketch  of  his  classmate. 

"  Before  we  reached  the  Clove,"  Tallmadge  proceeds, 
"Major  Andre  became  very  inquisitive  to  know  my  opinion 


*  Page  255,  and  infra. 


BENJAMIN     TALLMADGE.  221 

as  to  the  result  of  his  capture.  In  other  words,  he  wished 
me  to  give  him  candidly  my  opinion,  as  to  the  light  in 
which  he  would  be  viewed  by  General  Washington,  and  a 
military  tribunal,  if  one  should  be  ordered.  This  was  the 
most  unpleasant  question  that  had  been  propounded  to  me, 
and  I  endeavored  to  evade  it,  unwilling  to  give  him  a  true 
answer.  When  I  could  no  longer  evade  his  importunity, 
or  put  off  a  full  reply,  I  remarked  to  him  as  follows.  "  I 
had  a  much  loved  classmate  in  Yale  College,  by  the  name 
of  Nathan  Hale,  who  entered  the  army  in  the  year  1775. 
Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  General  Wash- 
ington wanted  information  respecting  the  strength,  position, 
and  probable  movements  of  the  enemy.  Captain  Hale 
tendered  his  services,  went  over  to  Brooklyn,  and  was  taken 
just  as  he  was  passing  the  outposts  of  the  enemy  on  his 
return." — Said  I  with  emphasis,  "  Do  you  remember  the 
sequel  of  this  story  ?  " — "  Yes,"  said  Andre,  "  he  was  hanged 
as  a  spy.  But  you  surely  do  not  consider  his  case  and  mine 
alike  ?  " — I  replied,  "  Yes,  precisely  similar,  and  similar  will 
be  your  fate."  He  endeavored  to  answer  my  remarks,  but 
it  was  manifest  he  was  more  troubled  in  spirit  than  I  had 
ever  seen  him  before." 

While  Tallmadge  was  in  the  army,  in  and  around  New 
York,  he,  like  Hale,  it  is  worthy  of  particular  remark,  was 
honored  with  the  special  confidence  of  General  Washington 

in  hazardous  secret  service.      For  several   years — indeed 
19* 


222  APPENDIX. 

throughout  the  war — he  conducted  for  Washington,  and 
under  his  especial  instructions,  all  that  occult  correspond- 
ence with  persons  in  New  York,  or  elsewhere  within  the 
British  lines — well-affected  to  the  American  cause,  but  out- 
wardly in  amity  with  the  enemy — which  the  Commander-in- 
chief  is  well  known  to  have  maintained — and  for  this  busi- 
ness he  kept  one  or  more  boats  constantly  employed  in 
crossing  Long  Island  Sound. 

At  the  close  of  the  war — in  1784 — after  marrying  Mary, 
the  daughter  of  General  William  Floyd,  of  Mastic,  Long 
Island — he  removed  to  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  where  he 
engaged  largely  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  lived  the  remain- 
der of  his  life.  Losing  his  first  wife  in  1805,  he  in  1808 
married  Maria,  the  daughter  of  Joseph  Hallet  Esquire,  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  He  had  several  children — one  of 
whom,  the  Honorable  Frederic  A.  Tallmadgc,  is  the  late 
eminent  Recorder  of  the  City  of  New  York.  From  1800, 
for  sixteen  successive  years,  he  was  a  member  of  Congress 
from  Connecticut,  and  discharged  his  trust  with  ability  and 
high  integrity.  He  died  March  7th,  1835,  a  tranquil  death 
— "with  a  joyful  hope  and  Christian  confidence."  Zealous, 
enterprising,  patriotic,  honorable,  benevolent,  "the  influence 
of  his  example  was  felt  in  every  good  work,  and  all  who 
knew  him  loved  and  venerated  him." 


F. 

Page  36. 
.          SKETCH  OF  MRS.  LAWRENCE. 

THE  following  sketch  of  the  appearance,  mind,  and  man- 
ners of  Mrs.  Lawrence — from  the  pen  of  a  highly  intelligent 
lady,  one  of  her  grand-daughters,  who  long  lived  in  her 
society  and  home — will  be  found  very  interesting.  It  is  in 
•  no  respect  exaggerated,  as  we  learn  from  various  sources — 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  is  accurate  and  just.  Though 
communicated  to  us  in  the  form  of  a  note,  and  not  designed 
for  publication,  we  cannot  forbear  the  pleasure  of  present- 
ing it  to  our  Readers  here.  Speaking  of  her  grandmother, 
the  writer  thus  proceeds : 

"  In  person  she  was  rather  below  the  middle  height,  with 
a  full,  round  figure — rather  petite.  She  possessed  a  mild, 
amiable  countenance,  in  which  was  reflected  that  intellect- 
ual superiority  which  distinguished  her  even  in  the  days  of 
Dwight,  Hopkins,  and  Barlow,  in  Hartford — men  who  could 
appreciate  her,  who  delighted  in  her  wit  and  worth,  and 


224  APPENDIX. 

who,  with  a  coterie  of  others  of  that  period  who  are  still  in 
remembrance,  considered  her  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments 
of  their  society. 

"  A  fair,  fresh  complexion,  obtained  in  her  early  country 
life — bright,  intelligent  hazel  eyes,  and  hair  of  a  jetty  black- 
ness— will  give  you  some  idea  of  her  looks — the  crowning 
glory  of  which  was  the  forehead,  that  surpassed  in  beauty 
any  I  ever  saw,  and  was  the  admiration  of  my  maturer 
years.  I  portray  her,  with  the  exception  of  the  hair,  as  she 
appeared  to  me  in  her  eighty-eighth  year.  I  never  tired  of 
gazing  on  her  youthful  complexion — upon  her  eyes,  which 
retained  their  natural  lustre  unimpaired,  and  enabled  her 
to  read  without  any  artificial  aid — and  upon  her  hand  and 
arm,  which,  though  shrunken  somewhat  from  age,  must,  in 
her  younger  days,  have  been  a  fit  study  for  a  sculptor. 

"  Her  character  was  everything  that  was  lovely.  A  lady 
who  had  known  her  many  years,  writing  to  me  after  her 
death,  says — '  Never  shall  I  forget  her  unceasing  kindness 
to  me,  and  her  noble  and  generous  disposition.  From  my 
first  acquaintance  with  her,  and  amidst  all  the  varied  trials 
through  which  she  was  called  to  pass,  I  had  ever  occasion 
to  admire  the  calm  and  beautiful  Christian  spirit  she  uni- 
formly exhibited.  To  you  I  will  say  it,  I  never  knew  so 
faultless  a  character — so  gentle,  so  kind.  That  meek 
expression,  and  that  affectionate  eye,  are  as  present  to  my 
recollection  now,  as  though  I  had  seen  them  but  yesterday.' 


AIRS.     LAWRENCE.  225 

"Such  is  the  language  of  one  who  had  known  her 
long  and  well,  and  whose  testimony  would  be  considered 
more  impartial  than  that  of  one,  who,  like  myself,  had 
been  the  constant  recipient  of  her  unceasing  kindness  and 
affection." 


G. 

Page  57. 
HALE'S  DIARY. 

THE  following  is  the  Diary  of  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  to 
which  reference  is  made  in  the  text — and  in  the  precise 
shape  in  which  it  was  written  by  him.  It  has  no  pretension 
to  any  formality  of  plan,  or  elegance  of  composition,  but  is 
a  succinct,  often  extremely  abbreviated  statement  of  events 
and  experiences  in  his  life,  chiefly  from  the  time  he  left  New 
London  with  his  military  company,  until,  with  the  army 
from  around  Boston,  he  marched  for  New  York.  A  few 
pages  are  torn  from  the  Camp  Book  which  contains  it — two 
or  three  from  the  beginning  of  the  Diary,  and  one  contain- 
ing the  entries  of  two  days  in  November.  With  this 
exception,  and  a  break  also  in  the  Diary  from  September  the 
thirtieth  to  October  sixth,  and  again  upon  the  sixteenth  of 
October,  the  entries  are  regular  and  uninterrupted  from 
September  twenty-third,  1775,  to  December  the  thirty-first. 
They  begin  again  January  twenty-fourth,  1776,  and  run 


BALE'S    DIARY.  227 

over  seven  days.  Two  more  in  February,  and  four  after 
Hale  reached  New  York,  complete  the  series  of  his  memo- 
randa. The  facts  they  contain  are,  many  of  them,  of  his- 
torical value.  Even  the  little  personal  experiences  and 
employments  to  which  they  allude,  otherwise  unimportant, 
will  grow  into  some  consequence  with  the  Header,  when 
associated  with  the  patriotic  Martyr-Spy.  They  will  all  be 
found  interesting,  particularly  so  when  we  reflect  that,  with 
a  few  letters,  and  a  single  college  composition,  they  form 
everything  that  is  left  us  from  the  pen  of  one,  who,  had  he 
lived  to  mature  his  youthful  powers,  to  nurse  his  intellect, 
and  polish  his  tastes,  would  probably  have  been  a  bright 
ornament  either  to  the  pulpit  or  the  bar,  or  have  graced 
perhaps  the  paths  of  literature  as  much  as  he  graced  the 
path  of  patriotism; 

"[Sep.  23rd.]  Cannon,  40  or  50,  heard  from  the  last 
stage  to  the  present.  Marched  3^  O'Cl — and  arrived  [at] 
Watermans,  (a  private  house  and  entertainment  good)  after 
a  stop  or  two.  Gj  O'Cl.,  6  m. — tarried  all  night. 

"24th.  Mch'd  6  O'CL,  and  at  8  O'Cl.,  reach'd  Olney's,  4 
m. — 10  O'CL,  mch'd  from  Olney's  2  miles,  and  reached 
Providence,  but  made  no  stop.  Having  march'd  thro'  the 
town  with  music,  and  mde  a  sht  stp  at  the  hither  part,  in 
the  road,  came  4  miles  further  to  Slacks  in  Rehoboth,  where 
we  dined.*  4  O'CL,  mch'd  from  Slacks  6  m.,  and  reach'd 

*"  Received,  Rehoboth,  Sept.  24,  1775,  of  Nathan  Hale  Lieut'  of  Mnj'Lati- 


#. 


228  APPENDIX. 

Daggetts  in  Attleborough,  and  put  up,  depositing  our  arms 
in  the  mtts  House.  Soon  after  our  arrival  join'd  by  the 
Majr,  who  set  out  from  home  the  nt  bef  -  . 

"  25th.  March'd  soon  after  sunrise  —  and  came  very  fast 
to  Dupree's  in  Wrentham,  9  m.  to  Breakfast.  Arv'd  9  O'Cl. 

11  set  off,  and  l£  P.  M.  arv'd  [at]  Hidden's,  Walpole,  and 
there  din'd  and  tarried  till  4£  O'Cl.,  and  then  march'd  to 
Dedham,  7  m.,  and  put  up. 

"Tuesday  26th.  Mch'd  5  m.  before  Breakfast  to  --  . 
For  Dinner  went  4^  m.  to  Parkers,  which  is  within  a  mile 
and  a  half  from  Camp.  At  our  arrival  in  Camp  found  that 
200  men  had  been  draughted  for  a  fishing  party.  Pitched 
our  tents  for  the  present  in  Roxbury,  a  little  before  sunset 

"  Wednesday  27th.     Went  to  some  of  our  lower  works. 

12  or  15  of  the  fishing  party  return,  and  bring  11  Cattle  and 

2  horses. 

"  Thursday  28lh.     Fishing  party  returned. 
"  Friday  29lh.     Mch'd  for  Cambridge.     Arv'd  3  O'Cl.,  and 
encamped  on  the  foot  of  Winter  hill,  near  General  Sullivan's, 

3  Com'"  Maj™  Cl  Shipmans,  Bostwick. 

"  Sat  30th.     Considerable  firing  upon  Roxbury  side  in  the 


mer's  Company,  five  shillings  and  ten  pence  lawful  money  for  the  use  of  my 
house  and  other  trouble  by  sd  Company. 

KMPHALKT  SLACK." 

Several  similar  receipts,   in   the  handwriting  of  Hale,  save  the  signature, 
enabling  us  to  trace  his  position?,  are  found  in  his  Camp-Book. 


HALE'S   DIARY.  229 

forenoon,  and  some  P.  M.  No  damage  done  as  we  hear. 
Join'd  this  day  by  Cpu  Perril  and  Levnwth  about  4  O'Cl. 

"Octo.  6th,  1775.  Near  100  Can-  fired  at  Roxbury  from 
the  Enemy.  Shot  off  a  man's  arm,  and  kill'd  one  Cow. 

"  7th.     Some  firing  from  Boston  neck — nil  mat. 

"  8th.  Sab.  A.  M.  rainy — no  meet8.  Mr  Bird  pr.  Water- 
town  P.  M.  "Went  to  meet*  on  the  hill.  Mr  Smith  pr. 

"  9th,  Monday.  Morn*  clear  and  pleas',  but  cold.  Exersd 
men  o  O'Cl.  1.  h. 

"Tuesday  10th.  "Went  to  Roxbury — dined  with  Doc* 
"Wolcott  at  General  Spencers  Lodg1.  P.  M.  rode  down  to 
Dorchester,  with  a  view  to  go  on  upon  the  point ;  but  Col1 
Fellows  told  us  he  could  give  us  no  leave,  as  we  had  been 
informed  in  town.  Return'd  to  Camp  6  O'Cl. 

"  Wed.  11th.  Bror  Joseph  here  in  the  morning — went  to 
Cam*6  12  O'Cl.— sent  a  letter  to  Bror  Enoch  by  Sam1  Turner. 
Inform'd  by  Joph  that  he  was  to  be  examin'd  to  day  for  — . 
Saw  Royal  Flynt — pr"1  to  write  him.  Recd  a  letter  from  Gil. 
Salt1  wh  inf"  y*  Schooner  by  St  Johns  taken — all  ye  men 
kill'1,  and  y  8,000  bush1'  of  wheat  had  been  taken  and  car- 
ried to  Norwich  fm  Christ.  Champlin's  ship  run  agr*1  at 
Stonin*1".  Reca  letter  9th  from  Gil.  Salt  Do  9th  f™  John 
Hallam — 8lh  E.  Hale.  A  heavy  thunder  showr  in  y*  even8. 

"Thurs.  12th.  Wrote  6  letters  to  N.  L.  Saw  C1  Sage. 
Tnfrad  Montreal  held  by  Montgomery — St  Johns  offd  to 

capitulate,  but  refusing  to  deliver  guns,  Johnson's  terms 
20 


230  APPENDIX. 

were  refused;  but  must  soon  surrender.  P.  M.  Went 
into  Cambridge.  Took  the  Camb**  Paper — pd  3  coppers. 

"  Friday  13th.  Inf""1  by  I/  Col1  that  Col1  Webb  last  night 
gave  orders  that  Field  Officers  Lieutenants  should  wear  yel- 
low Ribbons — put  in  one  accordingly.  Walkd  to  Misk  for 
clothes.  ******** 

"Sat.  14th.  Mounted  picket  guard.  Govr  Griswold  at 
ploughd  hill.  Rumours  of  25,000  troops  from  England. 

"  Sab.  15th.  Mr  Bird  pr.  P.  M.  After  meeting  walk'd  to 
Mistick. 

"  Tuesday  17th.     A  Serg1  Major  deserted  to  the  Regulars. 

"Wed.  18th.  A  Private  deserted  to  the  enemy.  Last 
night  a  cannon  split  in  our  float*  batt'ry  when  fir*  upon  B. 
Common — 1  of  our  men  kill'd — another  said  to  be  mortally 
wounded — 6  or  7  more  wounded.  Recd  Letters — G.  Salston- 
tall,  U*-^J.  Hallam,  14th— E.  Hallam,  15'h— E.  Adams, 
16th.  In  Mr.  Sals"  Letter  recd  News  of  the  publishment  of 
Thomas  Poole  and  Betsey  Adams  on  the  15th. 

"  Thursday  1 9th.  Wrote  4  letters— to  Messrs.  G.  Sals1  and 
John  Hallam,  and  to  Misses  Bet.  Adams  and  Hallam.  3 
people  inhabitants  of  Boston  sd  to  have  escaped  on  Rox-v 
side  last  night.  Several  guns  were  fired  at  them  which  were 
heard  here  at  Winter  hill.  This  morning  one  of  our  horses 
wandd  down  near  the  enemy's  lines,  but  they  durst  not  ven- 
ture over  to  take  him  on  account  of  Rifle"  placed  at  ye  old 
Chim3'  ready  to  fire  upon  them.  A  sick  man  at  Temples 
found  to  have  the  small  pox. 


KALE'S    DIARY.  231 

"  Friday  20lh.  Wet  and  rainy.  News  from  Roxbury  y' 
9  persons,  5  of  them  inhabitants,  and  4  of  them  Sailors, 
made  their  escape  last  night  from  Boston  to  Dorchester 
Point,  who  bring  accounts  y'  10,000  Hanoverian  &  5,000 
Scotch  and  Irish  Troops  are  hourly  expected  in  Boston. 
Cpt.  Perrit  retd  sunset  from  Connecticut  News  y'  Col. 
Josh  Trumbull  Comm*  Gen1  was  at  the  point  of  Death. 

"  Sat.  21  ".  Constant  rain  &  for  y*  most  part  hard  for  y* 
whole  day.  A  letter  communicated  to  the  off™  of  ye  Reg'  f m 
G.  Washgt"  to  Col1  Webb  with  orders  to  see  what  Off™  will 
extend  ye  term  of  thr  service  fm  6lh  Decemb'  to  1"  Jan? — Col. 
Webb  issu'd  ord™  for  removing  a  man  who  was  yesterday 
discovered  to  have  y'  small  pox  from  Temple's  house  to  y' 
hospital — but  the  off™  remonstrating,  suspended  his  orders. 
Sun  set  clear. 

"  Sab.  22nJ.  Mounted  piquet  guard — had  charge  of  the 
advance  Piquet.  Nil.  mem.  Mistick  Comm7  refus'd  to 
deliver  prov""  to  Comp*"  which  had  had  nothing  for  ye  day. 
On  which  Cpt.  Tuttle  and  60  or  70  men  went,  and  as  it 
hapnd  terror  instead  of  force  obtain'd  the  provisions.  On 
Piquet  heard  Reg™  at  work  with  pick  axes.  One  of  our 
Gentries  heard  their  G.  Rounds  give  the  Countersign — which 
was  Hamilton.  Left  P.  guard,  and  reta  to  Cp  at  sunrise  on 
the — 

"23rd  Mon.  10  O'CL,  went  to  Cambridge  w*  Fid  Comsnd 
officers  to  Gen1  Putnam,  let  him  know  the  state  of  the  Reg', 


232  APPENDIX. 

and  y'  it  was  thro'  ill  usage  upon  the  Score  of  Provisions  yl 
thy  wld  not  extend  their  term  of  service  to  the  1"  of  Jan* 
1776.  Din'd  at  Browns — dr*  1  bottle  wine — walk'd  about 
street — call'd  at  Josh.  Woodbridge's  on  my  way — retd  home 
about  6  O'Cl.  Recd  confirmation  of  day  before  yesterday's 
report  y'  Capt.  Coit  mde  an  Admiral.  Recd  lett.  Ed.  Hal- 
lam,  15th. 

"  25th,  Tuesday.  Some  rain.  W  to  Mistick  with  clothes, 
to  be  washed  (viz.  4  Shirts,  Do  Necks,  5  pair  Stockings,  1 
Napkin,  1  Table  Cloth,  1  Pillow  case,  2  Linen  and  1  Silk 
Handkerchief.)  P.  M.  Got  Brick  and  Clay  for  Chimney. 
"Winter  Hill  came  down  to  wrestle,  wh  view  to  find  out  our 
best  for  a  wrestling  match  to  which  this  hill  was  stumped  by 
Prospect,  to  be  decided  on  Thursday  ensu*.  Evening  Pray- 
ers omitted  for  wrestling. 

"25th,  Wednesday — no  letters. 

"  26th,  Thursday.  Grand  Wrestle  on  Prospect  Hill— -no 
wager  laid. 

."  Friday,  27th.  Mess™  John  Hallam  and  David  Mumford 
arvd. 

"  Sat  28th.     Somewhat  rainy. 

"  Sab.  29th.  Went  to  meeting  in  the  barn — one  exercise. 
After  meeting  walk'd  with  Cpt  Hull  and  Mr  Hallam  to 
Mistick. 

"  Sat.  28th.  At  night  Serg1  of  the  enemy's  guard  deserted 
to  us. 


BALE'S   DIARY.  233 

"  Monday,  30th.  Some  dispute  with  the  Subalterns,  about 
Cpt  Hull  and  me  acting  as  Captains.  The  Col.  and  Lieut 
Col.  full  in  it  that  we  ought  to  act  in  that  capacity.  Brigade 
Majr  and  Gen1  Lee  of  the  same  opinion.  Presented  a  peti- 
tion to  Gen1  Washington  for  Cpt  Huh1  and  myself,  request- 
ing the  pay  of  Cpts — refused.  Mr  Gurley  here  at  Dinr.  P. 
M.  "Went  into  Cambridge  with  Mr.  Mumford. 

"Tuesday,  31".  Wrote  letters  to  Father,  and  brother 
John  and  Enoch.  P.  M.  Went  to  Cambridge — dr.  wine  &c 
at  Gen1  Putnams. 

"  Wednesday,  Novem.  1st.  Mounted  Piquet  guard — nil 
mem.  Rec'd  3  Letters  frm  S.  Belden,  G.  Salt.,  and  B.  Hal- 
lam.  The  1st  inf  md  he  had  no  Scarlet  Coating  &c.,  and  also 
reminded  me  of  20s  due  to  him  by  way  of  change  of  a  40s 
Bill  rec'd  for  Schooling  (forgot.)  2nd  inf md  that  (as  per  Phila- 
delphia paper)  Peyton  Randolph  died  of  an  Apoplexy  22nd 
ult.  3rd  infmd  Sheriff  Christopher  is  dead. 

"Wed.  1".  Came  off  from  Piquet  Guard  10  O'Cl.  11 
do  w'  to  Camge  with  Cpt  Hull — dined  at  Gen1  Putnam's  with 
Mr.  Learned.  Inf md  Mr  Howe  died  at  Hartford  2  months 
ago — not  heard  of  before.  Col1  Parson's  Reg4  under  arms 
to  suppress  ye  mutinous  proceedings  of  Gen1  Spencer's 
Reg* — one  man  hurt  in  the  neck  by  a  bayonet  (done  yester- 
day.) Retndto  Camp  6  O'Cl. 

"  Thursday  2nd.     Rain  constantly,  sometimes  hard.     Re- 


20* 


234  APPENDIX. 

ceiv'd  a  flying  Report  that  the  Congress  had  declared 
independency. 

•'  Friday  3rd.     Nil  mem. 

"Sat.  4th.  Mr  Learned  and  myself  din'd  at  Col1  Halls. 
Deac"  Kingsbury's  son  visited  me.  P.  M.  Cpt  Hull  and 
myself  w*  to  Prospect  Hill. 

"  Sunday  5th.  A.  M.  Mr.  Learned  pr.  John  13,  19 — excel- 
lehtissime.  A  little  after  twelve  a  considerable  number  of 
cannon  from  the  Enemy,  in  memory  of  the  day.  Din'd  with 
Cpt  Hull  at  Gen1  Putnams.  Rec'd  news  of  the  taking  of 
Fort  Chamblee,  with  80  odd  soldiers,  about  100  women  & 
children,  upwards  of  100  barrels  of  Powder,  more  than  200 
barrels  of  pork,  40  do  of  flour,  2  Mortars  and  some  cannon. 
The  women,  wives  to  Officers  in  St  Johns,  were  brought  to 
St  Johns,  and  there  their  Husbands  permitted  to  come  out, 
and  after  spending  some  time  with  them,  return.  Also 
News  of  a  vessel  taken  by  one  of  our  privateers  fr.  Phi"  to 
B-n,  wh  104  pipes  of  wine — another  from  the  West  Indies 
with  the  produce  of  that  Country.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  bro. 
Enoch — Nov.  1.  Coventry  pr.  Daniel  Robertson,  who  is  to 
make  me  a  visit  tomorrow.  The  paper,  in  which  the  Officers 
sent  in  their  names  for  new  commissions  return'd  for  more 

Subalterns.  Ens"  Pond  and put  down  thr  names. 

Those  who  put  down  their  names  the  first  offer,  [are]  Col' 
Webb  and  Hall,  Capt'  Hoyt,  Tuttle,  Shipman,  Bostwick, 
Perrit,  Levenworth,  Hull  and  Hale — Sub"  Catland. 


HALE'S  DIARY.  235 

"  Monday,  6th.  Mounted  Piquet  guard  in  ye  place  of  Cpt 
Levenworth.  A  Rifleman  deserted  to  ye  Regulars.  Some 
wet.  Day  chiefly  spent  in  Jabber  and  Chequers.  Cast  an  eye 
upon  Young's  Menv,  belong*  to  Col.  Varnum — a  very  good 
book.  Comp1  of  ye  bad  condition  of  ye  lower  Piquet  by 
Majr  Cutler  &c.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  an 
Officer  should  be  anxious  to  know  his  duty,  but  of  greater 
that  he  shd  carefully  perform  what  he  does  know.  The 
present  irregular  state  of  the  army  is  owing  to  a  capital  neg- 
lect in  both  of  these. 

"Tuesday,  7th.  Left  Piquet  10  O'Clock.  Inf»  Majr 
Brooks  appta  for  this  Reg1 — new  establishment — wh.  occasa 
much  uneasiness  among  the  Cpts.  Rain  pretty  hard  most 
of  the  day.  Spent  most  of  it  in  the  Majr,  my  own  and  other 
tents  in  conversation  —  some  chequers — Studied  ye  best 
method  of  forming  a  Reg'  for  a  review,  of  arraying  ye  Com- 
panies, also  of  marching  round  y"  reviewing  Officer.  A  man 
ought  never  to  lose  a  moments  time.  If  he  put  off  a  thing 
from  one  minute  to  the  next,  his  reluctance  is  but  increased. 

"  Wednesday  8th.  Cleaned  my  gun — pld  some  football, 
and  some  chequers.  Some  People  came  out  of  Boston  via 
Roxb'.  Rec'd  N.  of  Cpt  Coit's  taking  two  prizes,  with 
Cattle,  poultry,  hay,  rum,  wine,  &c.  &c. — also  verbal  accounts 
of  the  taking  of  St  Johns. 

"Thursday,  9th.  1  O'Cl.  P.  M.  An  alarm.  The  enemy 
landed  at  Lechmeres  Point,  to  take  off  cattle.  Our  works 


236  APPENDIX. 

were  immediately  all  mann'd,  and  a  detachment  sent  to 
receive  them,  who  were  obliged,  it  being  high  water,  to  wade 
through  water  nearly  waist  high.  While  the  Enemy  were 
landing,  we  gave  them  a  constant  Cannonade  from  Prospect 
Hill.  Our  party  having  got  on  to  the  point,  marched  in  two 
columns,  one  on  each  side  of  ye  hill,  with  a  view  to  sur- 
round ye  enemy,  but  upon  the  first  appearance  of  them, 
they  made  their  boats  as  fast  as  possible.  While  our  men 
were  marching  on  to  ye  point,  they  were  exposed  to  a  hot  fire 
from  a  ship  in  the  bay,  and  a  floating  Battery — also  after 
they  had  passed  the  hill.  A  few  shot  were  fired  from  Bun- 
ker's Hill.  The  damage  on  our  side  is  the  loss  of  one  Rifle- 
man taken,  and  three  men  wounded,  one  badly,  and  it  is 
thought  10  or  more  cattle  carried  off.  The  Rifleman  taken 
was  drunk  in  a  tent,  in  which  he  and  the  one  who  received 
the  worst  wound  were  placed  to  take  care  of  the  Cattle, 
Horses  &c.,  and  give  notice  in  case  the  enemy  should  make 
an  attempt  upon  them.  The  tent  they  were  in  was  taken. 
What  the  loss  was  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  we  cannot  yet 
determine.  At  night  met  with  the  Capt8  of  ye  new  estab- 
lishment at  Gen1  Sullivans  to  nominate  Subalterns.  Lieut' 
Bourbank  of  Col1  Doolittlc's  Reg'  made  my  1"  Ll — Sergt 
Chapman  2"d,  &  Serg'  Hurlburt  Ens". 

"Friday,  10th.  Went  upon  the  hill  to  see  my  new  Lieut 
Bourbank,  and  found  him  to  be  no  very  great  things.  On 
my  return  found  that  my  Br.  &  Joseph  Strong  had  been 


KALE'S   DIARY.  237 

here  and  enquired  for  me.  Immediately  after  dinner  went 
to  Cambr.  to  see  them,  but  was  too  late.  "Went  to  head 
quarters — saw  Gen1  Sullivan,  and  gave  him  a  description  of 
my  new  Lt.  He  said  he  would  make  enquiry  concerning 
him.  On  my  return  fo.  the  abo.  Lt  at  my  tent,  agrble  to  my 
invitation.  After  much  round  about  talk  persuaded  him  to 
go  with  me  to  the  Gen1,  to  desire  to  be  excused  from  the 
service.  The  Gen1  not  being  at  home,  deferr'd  it  till  another 
time. 

"Saturday,  11th.  Some  dispute  about  the  arrangement 
of  Subs. — but  not  peaceably  settled. 

"  Sunday  12th.  This  morning  early  a  meeting  of  Capts., 
upon  the  above  matter,  and  not  ended  until  near  noon.  No 
meeting  A.  M.  P.  M.  Mr  Bird  pr. 

"Monday,  13th.  Our  people  began  to  dig  turf  under 
Cobble  Hill.  Inlistments  delivered  out.  At  night  a  man 
of  our  Reg1  attempted  to  desert  to  the  Reg™,  but  was 
taken. 

"Tuesday,  14th.  Some  uneasiness  about  Subs.  P.  M. 
Went  to  Cambr.  nil  mem.  Gen1  orders  of  to  day  contained 
an  account  of  the  reduction  of  St  Johns.  Dig"  sods  under 
Cobble  Hill  continued." 

Here  follow,  copied  by  Bale's  hand,  long  and  minute 
"  Directions  for  the  Guards "  —  twenty-one  Articles  in 
number — after  which  his  Diary  thus  continues : 

"Wednesday,  15lh.     Mounted  Main  guard.     Heard  read 


238  APPENDIX. 

the  articles  of  surrender  of  St  Johns.  Likewise  an  account 
of  the  repulse  of  our  piratical  enemies  at  Hampton  in  Vir- 
ginia, with  the  loss  of  a  number  of  men — (in  a  handbill). 
Three  deserters  made  their  escape  from  Boston  to  Roxbury 
last  night.  Two  prisoners  were  taken  this  afternoon  in  the 
orchard  below  Plough'd  Hill,  who,  with  some  others,  were 
getting  apples.  They  bring  accounts  that  it  was  reported 
in  Boston  that  our  army  at  St  Johns  was  entirely  cut  off. 
That  last  week  when  they  attempted  to  take  our  cattle  at 
Sewels  point  they  kill'd  50  or  60  of  our  men,  wounded  as 
many  more,  and  had  not  a  man  either  killed  or  wounded — 
whereas  in  truth  we  had  only  one  that  was  much  wounded, 
and  he  is  in  a  way  to  recover.  Rec'd  a  letter  from  J. 
Hallam. 

"Thursday,  16th.  Releiv'd  from  Piquet,  8|  O'CL  Con- 
fined James  Brown  of  Cpt  Hubbel's  company  for  leaving 
the  guard,  which  he  did  yesterday  towards  night,  and  did 
not  return  until  4  O'Cl.  this  morning,  when  he  was  taken 
up  by  the  centinel  at  the  door  of  Temple's  House.  As  it 
appeared  he  was  somewhat  disguised  with  liquor,  I  ordered 
him  confined  and  reported. 

"  Thursday  16th.  Wrote  two  letters— 1  to  J.  Hallam,  and 
1  to  G.  Salt1.  It  being  Thanksgiving  in  Connecticut,  the 
Capts  and  officers  in  nomination  for  the  new  army  had  an 
entertainment  at  T's  house  provided  by  Capt.  Whitney's 
Sutler.  They  were  somewhat  merry,  and  inlisted  some 


BALE'S   DIARY.  239 

soldiers.  I  was  not  present.  About  10  or  11  O'Cl.  at  night 
Orders  came  for  reinforcing  the  Piquet  with  10  men  from  a 
Com*. 

"Friday,  17th.  Rec'd  an  order  from  Colonel  Hall  for 
taking  up  at  the  continental  Store  4  pr  Breeches,  6  Do 
Stocks-,  5  DO  Shoes,  1  Shirt,  1  buff  Cap,  1  pr  Indian  Stocks3, 
5]  ydl  of  Coat*,— all  which  I  got  but  the  Shirt,  Indian 
Stock61,  ly  yd  Coatn?,  and  shoes,  which  are  to  come  tomor- 
row morning.  Cpt.  Hull  wth  some  of  his  soldiers  went  wth 
me  to  Camb*e.  Return'd  after  dark.  Stop'd  at  Gen1  Lees 
to  see  about  Furl*  for  men  inlisted,  who  ordered  the  gen1 
orders  for  the  day  to  be  read,  by  which  Furloughs  are  to  be 
given  by  Col1*  only,  and  not  more  than  50  at  a  time  must 
have  them  out  of  a  Reg'.  Gen1  orders  further  contained 
that  the  Congress  had  seen  fit  to  raise  the  pay  of  the  officers 
from  what  they  were — and  that  a  Cpt  upon  the  new  estab- 
lishment is  to  receive  2G§  Dollars  per  month — a  1"  and  2nd 
Lieu'  18  Dollars,  and  an  Ens"  13  J  Dollars. 

"Saturday,  18th.  Obtained  an  order  from  Colo.  Webb 
upon  the  Q.  M.  G.  for  things  for  the  soldiers.  Went  for 
them  afternoon — returned  a  little  after  Sunset. 

"Sabbath  Day,  19th.  Mr  Bird  pr. — one  service  only, 
beginning  after  12  O'Cl.  Text  Esther  8th  6.  For  how  can 
I  endure  to  see  the  evil  that  shall  come  unto  my  people,  or 
how  can  I  endure  to  see  the  destruction  of  my  kindred? 
The  discourse  very  good — the  same  as  preached  to  Gen1 


24:0  APPENDIX. 

Wooster,  his  officers  and  Soldiers,  at  Newhaven,  and  which 
was  again  preached  at  Cambridge  a  Sabbath  or  two  ago. 
Now  preached  as  a  farewell  discourse.  Robert  Latimer,  the 
Maj™  son,  went  to  Roxbury  to  day  on  his  way  home.  The 
Majr  who  went  there  to  day,  and  Lt  Hurlburt,  and  Robert 
Latimer  P,  who  went  yesterday,  returned  this  evens  and  b' 
accu  that  the  Asia  Man  of  War,  stationed  at  New  York, 
was  taken  by  a  Schooner  armed  with  Spears  &c.,  which  at 
first  appeared  to  be  going  out  of  the  Harbour,  and  was  bro< 
too  by  y*  Asia,  and  instead  of  coming  under  her  stern,  just 
as  she  come  up  shot  along  side.  The  men  who  were  before 
conceal'd,  immediately  sprung  up  with  their  lances  &c.,  and 
went  at  it  with  such  vigor  that  they  soon  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  ship.  The  kill'd  and  wounded  not  known. 
This  account  not  credited.  Sergeant  Prentis  thought  to  be 
dying  about  12  Meridian — some  better,  if  any  alterat"  this 
evening. 

"Monday  20th.  Obtain'd  furloughs  for  5  men,  viz.,  Isaac 
Hammon,  Jabez  Minard,  Christopher  Beebe,  John  Holmes, 
and  William  Hatch,  each  for  20  Days.  Mounted  mn  Guard 
— 4  prisoners — nil  mem.,  until  10  O'Cl,  when  an  alarm  from 
Cambr.  and  Prospect  Hill,  occasioned  our  turning  out. 
Slept  little  or  none. 

"Tuesday,  21".  Releiv'd  by  Cpt  Hoyt.  Serg'  Prentis 
very  low.  Colo,  and  some  Cpts  went  to  Cambr.  to  a  Court 


BALE'S  DIARY.  2-il 

M.,  to  Cpt  Hubbel's  Trial,  adjourn'd  from  yesterday  to  day. 
Evening  spent  in  conversation. 

"Wednesday,  22nd.  Serg1  Prentis  died  about  12  O'Cl. 
last  night.  Tried  to  obtain  a  furlough  to  go  to  Cape  Ann, 
and  keep  Thanksgiving,  but  could  not  succeed.  Being  at 
Gen1  Sullivans,  heard  Gen1  Green  read  a  letter  from  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Congress,  expressing  wonder  at  the  Backward- 
ness of  the  Off™  and  Soldiers  to  tarry  the  winter — likewise 
informing  that  the  men  inlisted  fast  in  Pennsylvania  and  ye 
Jersies  for  30s.  per  month.  Some  hints  dropt  as  if  there 
was  to  be  a  change  of  the  " 

Here  a  leaf  of  the  Camp-Book  is  gone,  and  the  Diary 
recommences  as  follows : 

"  Saturday,  25th.  Last  night  2  sheep  kill'd  belonging  to 
the  Enmy.  This  morning  considerable  firing  between  the 
Gentries.  A  Rifleman  got  a  Dog  from  the  Regulars.  Col. 
Varnum  offer'd  a  Guinea  for  him,  the  [same]  that  Gen1  Lee 
had  offer'd.  10  O'Cl,  A.  M.  went  to  Cobble  Hill  to  view. 
Another  brought  to  the  Ferry  way — two  there  now.  P.  M. 
Went  to  Cambr.  Retd  Sunset.  *  *  *  Heard  further 
that  200  or  300  poor  people  had  been  set  on  shore  last  night 
by  the  Regulars — the  place  not  known,  but  sd  to  be  not 
more  than  6  or  8  miles  from  hence.  Cannon  were  heard 
this  forenoon,  seeming  to  be  off  in  the  bay,  and  at  some 
distance.  Observ'd  in  coming  from  Cambr.  a  number  of 
21 


242  APPENDIX. 

Gabines  at  Gen1  Lee's,  said  to  be  for  the  purpose  of  fortify- 
ing upon  Lechmeres  point. 

"  26th,  Sunday.  William  Hatch  of  Major  Latimer's  Co., 
died  last  night,  having  been  confin'd  about  one  week — He 
has  the  whole  time  been  in  ,  and  great  part  of  it  out  of 
his  Senses.  His  distemper  was  not  really  known.  He  was 
buried  this  afternoon — few  people  attended  his  funeral.  Re- 
ported that  the  people  were  set  ashore  at  Chelsea,  and 
bring  accu  that  the  Troops  in  Boston  had  orders  to  make 
an  attack  on  Plough'd  Hill,  when  we  first  began  our  works 
there,  but  the  Officers,  a  number  of  them,  went  to  Gen1 
Howe,  and  offered  to  give  up  their  Commissions,  absolutely 
refusing  to  come  out  and  be  butchered  by  the  Americans. 
Mounted  Main  Guard  this  morning.  Snowy.  Lt  Chapman 
rec'd  Recruiting  ord",  and  set  out  home,  proposing  to  go 
as  far  as  Roxby  to  day. 

"  27th,  Monday.  Nil.  mem.  Evening  went  to  Gen1  Lee's, 
whom  I  found  very  much  cast  down  at  the  discouraging 
prospect  of  supplying  the  army  with  troops. 

"  28th,  Tuesday.  Promised  the  men  if  they  would  tarry 
another  month,  they  should  have  my  wages  fpr  that  time. 
Gen1  Sullivan  return'd.  Sent  order  to  Fraser  Q.  M.,  to 
send  us  some  wood.  "Went  to  Cambr. — could  not  be  served 
at  the  store.  Return'd — observ'd  a  greater  number  of  Ga- 
bines at  Gen1  Lee's.  Inf d  at  CamV.  y'  Gen1  Putnam's  Reg' 
mostly  concluded  to  tarry  another  month.  (This  a  lie.) 


H ALE'S  DIAKY.  243 

"  29th,  Wednesday.  The  Reg*  drawn  up  before  Gen1 
Sullivan's.  After  he  had  made  them  a  most  excellent 
speech,  desired  them  to  signify  their  minds,  whether  they 
would  tarry  till  the  first  of  January.  Very  few  fell  out, 
but  some  gave  in  their  names  afterwards.  Read  News  of 
the  taking  of  a  vessel  loaded  wlh  ordinance  and  stores. 

"  30th,  Thursday.  Obtained  a  furlough  for  Ens"  Hurl- 
burt  for  20  Days.  Sent  no  letters  to  day  on  account  of 
the  hurry  of  business. 

[December.]  "1st,  Friday.  W*  to  Cambridge.  A  Num- 
ber of  men,  about  20  in  the  whole,  confined  for  attempting 
to  go  home.  Our  Reg*  this  morning,  by  means  of  General 
Lee  universally  consented  to  tarry  until  the  Militia  came  in, 
and  by  far  the  greater  part  agreed  to  stay  until  the  first  of 
Jan. 

"  2d,  Saturday.  Orders  rec'd  to  the  Reg*  that  no  one 
Officer  or  Soldier  should  go  beyond  Drum  call  from  his 
alarm  post.  Went  to  Mistick  with  Gen1  Sullivan's  order  on 
Mr.  Fraser  for  things  wanted  by  the  Soldiers  who  are  to 
tarry  till  the  1'*  of  January,  but  found  he  had  none. 

U3d,  Sunday.  Wet  weather.  No  pr.  Ev«  got  an  ordr 
from  B.  G.  Sullivan  upon  Colo.  Mifflin  for  the  above  men- 
tioned articles,  not  to  be  had  at  Frasers. 
-  "4th,  Monday.  Went  to  Cambridge  to  draw  the  above 
articles,  but  the  order  was  not  accepted.  Rec'd  News  y* 
several  prizes  had  been  taken  by  our  Privateers,  among 


244  APPENDIX. 

which  was  a  Vessel  from  Scotland,  ballast'd  with  coal — the 
rest  of  her  cargo  dry  goods.  Cpt  Bulkley  and  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain, from  Colchester,  with  cheese.  Purchased  107  Ibs 
at  6p.  per  lb.,  for  which  I  gave  an  order  upon  Majr  Latimer. 

"oth,  Tuesday.  Rec'd  News  of  the  Death  of  John  Bow- 
ers, Gunner  in  Cpt  Adam's  Privateer,  formerly  of  Majr  Lat- 
imers  Company. 

"  6th, "Wednesday.  Upon  main  Guard.  Nil.  mem.  Rec'd 
some  letters  per  Post.  Col.  Doolittle,  Officer  of  the  Day, 
infd  that  Col.  Arnold  had  arrived  at  point  Levi  near 
Quebec. 

"  7th,  Thursday.     Went  to  Cambridge  to  draw  things. 

"  8th,  Friday.  Did  some  writing.  Went  P.  M.  to  draw 
money  for  our  expenses  on  the  road  from  N.  L.  to  Rox- 
bury,  but  was  disappointed. 

"  9th,  Nil  mem.     Saturday. 

"  10th.  Struck  our  tents,  and  the  men  chiefly  marched 
off.  Some  few  remaining  came  into  my  room.  At  night 
Charles  Brown,  Daniel  Talbot,  and  Wm  Carver  returned 
from  Privateering.  Assisted  Majr  Latimer  in  making  out 
his  Pay  Roll.  Somewhat  unwell  in  the  evening. 

"llth,  Monday.  Finished  the  pay  roll,  and  settled 
some  accounts — about  12  O'Cl.  Majr  Latimer  set  out  home. 
1  or  more  Companies  came  in  to  day  for  our  relief. 

"  12th,  Tuesday.  A  little  unwell  yesterday  and  to  day. 
Some  better  this  evening. 


BALE'S  DIARY.  245 

"  13th,  Wednesday.  On  Main  Guard.  Rec'd  and  wrote 
some  letters.  Read  the  History  of  Philip. 

"  14th,  Thursday.  Went  to  Cambridge.  Visited  Majr 
Brooks — found  him  unwell  with  an  ague.  Capt.  Hull 
taken  violently  ill  yesterday — remains  very  bad  to  day — 
has  a  high  fever. 

"  15th,  Friday.      Nil  mem. 

"  16th,  Sat.  Our  people  began  the  covered  way  to  Lech- 
mere's  Point. 

"17th,  Sunday.  Went  to  Mistick  to  meeting.  Some 
firing  on  our  people  at  Lechmere's  point. 

-"18th,  Monday.  Went  to  Cambridge  to  draw  things. 
The  Reg'  paraded  this  morning  to  be  formed  into  two  com- 
panies, that  the  rest  of  the  officers  might  go  home.  Heard 
in  Cambridge  that  Cpt  Manly  had  taken  another  prize, 
with  the  Govr  of  one  of  the  Carolinas  friendly  to  us,  and 
the  Hon.  Matthews  Esqr  Memb.  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, whom  Govr  Dunmore  had  taken  and  sent  for 
Boston. 

"19th,  Tuesday.  Went  to  Cobble  Hill.  A  shell  and  a 
shot  from  Bunker's  Hill.  The  shell  breaking  in  the  air, 
one  piece  fell  and  touched  a  man's  hat,  but  did  no  harm. 
Works  upon  Lechmere's  Point  continued. 

"  20th,  Wed.  Went  to  Roxbury  for  money  left  for  me 
by  Majr  Latimer  with  Gen1  Spencer,  who  refused  to  let  me 

have  it  without  security.     Draw'd  some  things  from  the 
21* 


246  APPENDIX. 

Store.     L*  Catlin  and  Ens"  Whittlesey    set  out  home  on 
foot. 

"21§<,  Thursday.  "Wrote  a  number  of  letters.  "Went 
to  Cambridge  to  carry  them,  where  1  found  Mr.  Hcmpstead 
had  taken  up  my  money  at  Gen1  Spencer's,  and  given  his 
receipt.  I  took  it  of  Hempstead,  giving  my  receipt.  The 
sum  was  £36,  10s,  Od.  *  *  * 

"  22d,  Friday.     Some  shot  from  the  enemy. 

"  23d,  Saturday.  Tried  to  draw  1  month's  advance  pay 
for  my  Company,  but  found  I  could  not  have  it  till  Mon- 
day next.  Upon  which  borrowed  76  Dollars  of  Cpt  Lev- 
enworth,  giving  him  an  order  on  Col1  Webb  for  the  same 
as  soon  as  my  advance  pay  for  January  should  be  drawn. 
SJO'CI,  P.  M.  Set  out  from  Cambridge  on  my  way  home. 
At  Watertown  took  the  wrong  road,  and  went  two  miles 
directly  out  of  the  way — which  had  to  travel  right  back 
again.  And  after  travelling  about  11  miles  put  up  at  Ham-  . 
mons,  Newtown,  about  7  O'Cl.  Entertainment  pretty 
good. 

"24th,  Sunday.  Left  H's  GJO'CI.  Went  8  miles  to 
Straytons,  passing  by  Jackson's  at  3  miles.  Breakfasted 
at  Straytons.  The  snow  which  began  before  we  set  out 
this  morning  increases,  and  becomes  burthensome.  From 
Straytons  9  miles  to  Stones — where  we  eat  Biscuit  and 
drank  cyder.  7  miles  to  Jones — dined — arv'd  Sjo'cl. 
From  there  2  m.,  and  forgot  some  things,  and  went  back — 


H ALE'S  DIARY.  247 

then  return'd.  To  Dr.  Reeds  that  night.  Pass'd  Amadons 
and  Keiths  3  m.  Good  houses.  Within  ±  m.  of  Dr.  Reeds 
miss'd  my  road,  and  went  2  m.  directly  out  of  my  way,  and 
right  back  travell'd — in  the  whole  to  day  41  miles.  The 
weather  stormy,  and  the  snow  for  the  most  part  ancle  deep. 

"25th,  Monday.  From  Dr.  Reeds  8  O'Cl.  Came  1  or  2 
m.,  and  got  horses.  4  m.  to  Hills,  and  breakfasted — ordi- 
nary. 8  m.  to  Jacobs,  and  din'd.  Dismiss'd  our  horses. 
6  O'Cl.  arv'd  Keyes  11  m.,  and  put  up.  Good  enter- 
tainment. 

"  26th,  Tuesday.  6  O'Cl.  A.  M.  Fr.  K.  6  m.  to  Kin- 
dais — breakfasted.  10  on  to  Southwards — din'd.  Settled 
ace"  with  Sl  Sage — dd  hm  16  dollars  for  paying  Soldiers  1 
month's  advance  pay.  Arv'd  home  a  little  after  sunset. 
One  heel  string  lame. 

"  27th,  Wed.  Heel  lame.  W  to  Br.  Roses.  Aunt  Rob8. 
Mr.  Hunton  and  Cpt  Robs. 

"  28th,  Thursday.     Unwell — tarried  at  home. 

u  29^  Friday.     Went  to   see   G.  C.  Lyman.     Call'd  at 

Dr.  Kingsbury's  and  Mr.  Strongs. 

****** 
"Jan?  1776.  24th,  Wednesday.  Set  out  from  my 
Fathers  for  the  Camp  on  horseback,  at  7-J  O'Cl.  At  11 
O'Cl.  arv'd  at  Perkin's,  by  Ashford  Meeting  House,  where 
left  the  horses.  12£  O'Cl.  mchd— 3|  arv'd  Grosvenors,  8 
m.,  and  4i  at  Grosvenor's,  Pomfret  2  m.,  and  put  up. 
Here  met  9  Sold"  fr.  Windham. 


248  APPENDIX. 

"  25th,  Thursday.  6£  O'Cl.  mchd  from  G.,  and  came  to 
Forbs  7  m.,  but  another  Co.  hav*  engaged  breakfast  there, 
we  were  obliged  to  pass  on  to  Jacobs  (from  Grov.  1  8m) — 
After  Breakfast  went  8  m.  to  Hills,  and  drk  some  bad  cyder 
in  a  worse  tavern.  7  0,C1.  arv'd  Deacon  Reeds,  5  m., 
Uxbridge,  and  \  com*  put  up,  myself  wth  remainder  passed 
on  to  Woods,  2  m. 

"  26th,  Friday.  7  O'Cl.  fr.  Woods  4  m.  to  Almadons 
Mendoreld — breakfasted.  17  m.  to  Clark's,  Medfield,  and 
put  up, — Co.  put  up  5  m.  back. 

"27th,  Saturday.  Breakfasted  at  Clark's,  10  O'Cl. 
Mchd,  about  11  O'Cl— arv'd  at  Ellis'  5A,  where  drank  a  glass 
of  brandy,  and  proceeded  on  5-i  to  Whitings.  Arv'd  2 
O'Cl.  Arv'd  at  Barkers  in  Jamaica  Plains,  but  being 
refused  entertainment,  were  obliged  to  betake  ourselves  to 
the  Punch  Bowl — where  leaving  the  men,  11  m.,  went  to 
Roxby.  Saw  Gen1  Spencer,  who  tho't  it  best  to  have 
the  men  there,  as  the  Regiment  were  expected  there  on 
Monday  or  Tuesday.  Indians  at  Gen1  Spencers.  Retd  to 
Winter  Hill. 

"28th,  Sunday.  Went  to  Roxby.,  to  find  barracks  for 
11  men  that  came  with  me,  but  not  finding  good  ones  ret'j 
to  Temple's  House,  where  the  men  were  arrived  before  me. 
In  the  evening  went  to  pay  a  last  visit  to  General  Sullivan, 
with  Col°  Webb  and  the  Cpts  of  the  Reg*. 

"  29th,  Monday.     Nil  mem. 


HALE'S  DIARY.  249 

"  30th,  Tuesday.     Removed  from  Winter  Hill  to  RoxK 

****** 

"  Feby  4th,  1776.     Sunday. 

"  Feb.  14th,  1776.  Wednesday.  Last  night  a  party  of 
Regulars  made  an  attempt  upon  Dorchester,  landing  with 
a  very  considerable  body  of  men,  taking  6  of  our  guard, 
dispersing  the  rest,  and  burning  two  or  three  houses.  The 
Guard  house  was  set  on  fire,  but  extinguished. 

****** 

"  [New  York.]  July  23d,  1776.  Report  in  town  of  the 
arv'l  of  twenty  S.  of  the  Line  in  St  Law"  River.  Doctr 
Wolcott  and  Guy  Richd"  Junr  here  frm  N.  L.  Rec'd  E.  fr. 
G.  Salstontall. 

""Aug.  21".  Heavy  Storm  at  Night.  Much  and  heavy 
Thunder.  Capt.  Van  Wyke,  and  a  Lieut  and  Ens.  of 
Col°  Me  Dougall's  Reg'  kill'd  by  a  Shock.  Likewise  one 
man  in  town,  belonging  to  a  Militia  Reg*  of  Connecticut. 
The  Storm  continued  for  two  or  three  hours,  for  the  great- 
est part  of  which  time  [there]  was  a  perpetual  Lightning, 
and  the  sharpest  I  ever  knew. 

"  22'1,  Thursday.  The  enemy  landed  some  troops  down 
at  the  Narrows  on  Long  Island. 

"23d,  Friday.  Enemy  landed  more  troops — News  that 
they  had  marched  up  and  taken  Station  near  Flatbush, 
their  adv"  Gds.  being  on  this  side  near  the  Woods — that 


250  APPENDIX. 

some  of  our  Riflemen  attacked  and  drove  them  back  from 
their  post,  burnt  2  stacks  of  hay,  and  it  was  thought  kill'd 
some  of  them — this  about  12  O'Clock  at  Night.  Our 
troops  attacked  them  at  their  station  near  Flatb.,  routed 
and  drove  them  back  1£  mile." 


H. 

Page  97. 
SKETCH  OF  STEPHEN  HEMPSTEAD. 

OF  Stephen  Hempstead,  as  the  friend  and  confidential 
companion  of  Hale,  for  a  part  of  the  way,  on  his  last  fatal 
expedition,  a  brief  account  here  will,  we  think,  interest  the 
Reader. 

He  was  born  in  New  London  on  the  sixth  of  May, 
1754.  He  was  the  son  of  Stephen  and  Sarah  Hempstead, 
and  was  a  descendant  from  Robert  Hempstead,  one  of  the 
chief  original  settlers  of  this  town.  When  the  great  strug- 
gle for  independence  commenced,  he  took  an  immediate  and 
active  part.  In  the  summer  of  1775,  he  was  Lieutenant  of 
a  guard  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  men,  under  Capt.  Nathan- 
iel Salstontall,  which,  in  the  first  movement  to  screen  the 
country  from  invasion,  manned  the  Old  Fort  in  New  Lon- 
don, on  the  Parade,  near  the  water's  edge.  Soon  after,  he 
joined  the  army  around  Boston,  and  was  stationed  for  a 
while  at  Dorchester  Point.  From  thence  he  went  with  the 


252  APPENDIX. 

American  troops  to  New  York,  and  there  was  soon  attached 
to  Hale's  company  as  Sergeant.  He  was  a  volunteer  in  the 
first  vessels  sent  to  destroy  the  Asia,  a  British  man-of-war 
of  sixty-four  guns — and  together  with  four  other  men  from 
Hale's  company,  was  also  a  volunteer  in  that  fire-sloop,  under 
command  of  Sergeant  Fosdick,  which,  in  August,  1776, 
was  sent  by  Commodore  Tupper  to  destroy  the  British  frig- 
ate Phoenix,  above  Fort  Washington  on  the  North  River — 
for  which  last  special  service  he  received  forty  dollars,  by 
order  of  Washington.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Long  Island 
— and  subsequently,  while  defending  the  American  lines  at 
Harlem  Heights,  was  wounded  badly  by  grape-shot,  which 
broke  two  of  his  ribs.  Recovering,  he  continued  in  the 
service,  with  good  reputation  as  an  active  and  gallant  soldier, 
until  1781,  when  in  the  memorable  attack  upon  Fort  Gro- 
ton,  September  sixth,  he  was  again  wounded. 

Of  this  attack  he  ha's  left  us  a  short,  but  painfully  thrill- 
ing narrative — from  which  it  appears,  that  upon  the  occa- 
sion he  himself  commanded  an  eighteen-pounder  on  the 
south  side  of  the  gate  of  the  Fort. 

"  While  in  the  act  of  sighting  my  gun,"  he  describes — as 
the  enemy  were  rushing  furiously  to  the  assault — "  a  ball 
passed  through  the  embrasure,  struck  me  a  little  above  the 
right  ear,  grazing  the  skull,  and  cutting  off  the  veins,  which 
bled  profusely.  A  handkerchief  was  tied  around  it,  and  I 
continued  at  my  duty.  Discovering  some  little  time  after, 


STEPHEN     HEMPSTEAD.  253 

that  a  British  soldier  had  broken  a  picket  at  the  bastion  on 
my  left,  and  was  forcing  himself  through  the  hole,  whilst 
the  men  stationed  there  were  gazing  at  the  battle  which 
raged  opposite  to  them,  I  cried,  my  brave  fellows,  the  enemy 
are  breaking  in  behind  you,  and  raised  my  pike  to  dispatch 
the  intruder,  when  a  ball  struck  my  left  arm  at  the  elbow, 
and  my  pike  fell  to  the  ground.  Nevertheless  I  grasped  it 
with  my  light  hand,  and  with  the  men,  who  turned  and 
fought  manfully,  cleared  the  breach." 

Hempstead  was  by  the  side  of  the  gallant  Ledyard  when 
the  latter  fell,  and  was  himself  at  the  same  moment  again 
wounded.  At  this  juncture,  he  narrates  on  these  points — 
the  enemy  having  entered  the  fort,  and  being  engaged  in 
firing  by  platoons  upon  those  who  were  retreating  to  the 
magazine  and  barrack-rooms  for  safety — "  the  renegade- 
Col.  B.  [Blomfield]  commanding,  cried  out,  who  commands 
this  garrison?  Col.  Ledyard,  who  was  standing  near  me, 
answered,  "I  did  sir,  but  you  do  now; "  at  the  same  time 
stepping  forward,  he  handed  him  his  sword  with  the  point 
towards  himself.  At  this  instant  I  perceived  a  soldier  in  the 
act  of  bayoneting  me  from  behind.  I  turned  suddenly 
round  and  grasped  his  bayonet,  endeavoring  to  unship  it, 
and  knock  off  the  thrust — but  in  vain.  Having  but  one 
hand,  he  succeeded  in  forcing  it  into  my  right  hip,  above 
the  joint,  and  just  below  the  abdomen,  and  crushed  me  to 

the  ground.      The  first  person  I  saw  afterwards  was  my 
22 


254  APPENDIX. 

brave  commander,  a  corpse  by  my  side,  having  been  run 
through  the  body  with  his  own  sword,  by  the  savage 
renegade." 

After  the  battle  was  over,  Hempstead  was  one  of  those  put 
by  the  enemy  in  that  ammunition  wagon  whose  headlong 
descent  to  the  river-bank  is  familiar  to  all  readers  of  history 
— and  whose  jar,  he  says,  when  arrested  in  its  course  by 
an  apple  tree,  was  "like  bursting  the  cords  of  life  asunder," 
and  caused  the  poor  sufferers  "to  shriek  with  almost  super- 
natural force."  Exhausted  with  pain,  fatigue,  and  loss  of 
blood,  and  parched  with  excruciating  thirst,  he  was  first 
relieved  in  the  morning  after  the  battle  by  the  niece  of  his 
murdered  commander — Miss  Fanny  Ledyard,  of  Southold, 
Long  Island,  then  on  a  visit  to  her  uncle.  She  held  to  my 
lips,  he  says,  "  a  cup  of  wann  chocolate,  and  soon  after  re- 
turned with  wine  and  other  refreshments,  which  revived  us 
a  little.  For  these  kindnesses,  she  has  never  ceased  to 
receive  my  most  grateful  thanks,  and  fervent  prayers  for 
her  felicity." 

"  We  were  a  horrible  sight  at  this  time,"  he  continues — 
speaking  of  his  own,  and  the  appearance  of  his  fellow-suf- 
ferers the  next  morning.  "  Our  own  friends  did  not  know 
us — even  my  own  wife*  came  in  the  room  in  search  of  me, 
and  did  not  recognize  me,  and  as  I  did  not  see  her,  she  left 


*  He  had  married,  Sep.  4th,  1777,  Mary  Lewis. 


STEPHEN     HEMPSTEAD.  255 

the  room  to  seek  for  me  among  the  slain,  who  had  been  col- 
lected under  a  large  elm  tree  near  the  house."  Hempstead 
was  however  soon,  subsequently,  recognized — his  wounds 
dressed — and  he  was  taken — "  not,"  he  says,  "  to  my  own 
house — for  that  was  in  ashes,  as  also  every  article  of  my 
property,  furniture  and  clothing — but  to  my  brother's,  where 
I  lay  eleven  months  as  helpless  as  a  child,  and  to  this  day  I 
feel  the  effects  of  it  severely." 

"  Such,"  he  remarks,  concluding  his  narration — "  such 
was  the  battle  of  Groton  Heights ;  and  such,  so  far  as  my 
imperfect  manner  and  language  can  describe,  a  part  of  the 
sufferings  which  we  endured.  Never,  for  a  moment,  have 
I  regretted  the  share  I  had  in  it.  I  would  for  an  equal  de- 
gree of  honor,  and  the  prosperity  which  has  resulted  to  my 
country  from  the  Revolution,  be  willing,  if  possible,  to 
suffer  it  again."  Noble  sentiment — worthy  the  patriot- 
soldier — worthy  the  companion  of  Hale ! 

Hempstead  remained  in  New  London  for  many  years 
after  the  war  was  over — and  there,  incapacitated  by  wounds 
from  regular  labor,  and  aided  only  by  a  small  pittance  from 
government,  he  eked  out  a  support  at  one  time  by  keeping 
the  County  Jail,  and  at  another  by  acting  as  Overseer  of  the 
Town  Poor.  In  1811,  he  removed  with  his  whole  family  to 
the  "West— to  St.  Louis,  Missouri — whither  his  son  Edward 
— one  of  ten  children — had  gone  before  him.  The  latter 
part  of  his  life,  as  we  are  politely  informed  by  Judge  James 


256  APPENDIX. 

B.  Colt,  formerly  of  St.  Louis,  "  he  resided  upon  a  farm  about 
six  miles  from  the  city,  back  of  the  Bellfontaine  Cemetery, 
very  much  respected  and  beloved.  His  character,"  adds  the 
Judge,  "  was  high-toned.  He  was  a  member  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  St.  Louis.  One  of  his  sons  was 
instrumental  in  getting  up  the  old  Missouri  Fur  Company. 
Another,  Charles  S.  Hempstead  Esquire,  still  lives  in  Galena, 
Illinois.  His  son  Edward,  an  able  lawyer,  was  the  first  Dele- 
gate from  Missouri  to  Congress."  His  whole  family,  we 
understand,  prospered  highly. 

In  January,  1827,  he  fortunately  gave  to  the  world,  through 
the  columns  of  the  Missouri  Republican,  a  brief  narrative  of 
him  whom  he  styles  "  one  of  the  most  accomplished  officers 
of  his  grade  and  age,"  in  the  Revolutionary  army — the 
"brave,  learned,  young,  and  honorable"  Captain  Nathan 
Hale.  In  1831,  October  third,  silvered  with  years — cheer- 
ful in  the  possession  of  a  firm  and  unwavering  Christian 
faith,  and  "leaving  a  good  name  for  truth,  virtue,  and 
piety" — he  died.  An  excellent  funeral  discourse  was 
preached  over  his  remains  by  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Potts  of  St. 
Louis,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  beautiful  Bellfontaine 
Cemetery,  upon  land  which  once  composed  a  part  of  his 
own  farm. 


I. 

Page  113. 
OF  HALE'S  SUPPOSED  BETRAYAL  BY  A  RELATIVE. 

THE  basis  of  the  story  is  to  be  found  in  an  article  in  the 
Essex  [Mass.]  Journal,  far  back  as  Feb.  13th,  1777.*  The 
statements  therein  made  are  given  without  a  shadow  of 
proof,  and  contradict  well-known  facts.  Yet  when  first 
published — aliment,  as  they  were,  for  a  zealous  popular  pre- 
judice against  American  loyalists — and  swelling,  as  they 
did,  the  profitable  clamor  against  tory  treachery  and  malev- 
olence— they  were  quite  extensively  credited,  and  even  im- 
posed on  the  belief  of  Stephen  Hempstead,  and  partly  on 
that  of  Asher  Wright.  They  were,  however,  very  soon 
met  and  refuted,  both  by  the  party  accused,  and  by  his 
uncle,  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hale  of  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp- 
shire— in  whose  family  the  former  had  been  tenderly 
reared. 


*  It  is  copied  in  full  in  Hinmnn's  Connecticut  War  of  the  Revolution,  page  82. 
22* 


258  APPENDIX. 

% 

The  charge  was,  that  Samuel  Hale,  the  nephew — having 
been,  but  a  short  time  before  his  attributed  betrayal  of  his 
cousin,  hospitably  entertained  at  the  house  of  Nathan's 
father  in  Coventry,  where  he  had  "  counterfeited,  long  as  he 
tarried,  and  as  well  as  he  cou'ld,  a  whiggish  phiz" — escaped 
to  New  York — and  there,  before  Gen.  Howe,  on  the  appre- 
hension and  trial  of  his  cousin,  appeared  and  made  oath 
that  the  latter  was  a  captain  in  the  Continental  army,  and 
a  spy. 

In  1826,  the  original  article  containing  the  charge  was 
reproduced  in  the  columns  of  the  Newburyport  Herald, 
and  was  immediately  answered  in  the  Portsmouth  Journal, 
of  date  Sep.  23d,  1826,  in  the  following  conclusive  manner: 

"  Mr.  Editor.  In  the  last  Journal  there  is  an  article,  cop- 
ied from  the  Newburyport  Herald,  which  contains  a  state- 
ment, taken  from  the  Essex  Journal,  dated  Feb.  13th,  1777, 
which  is  entirely  false.  It  asserts  that  Capt.  Nathan  Hale, 
who  was  executed  as  a  spy  in  New  York,  Sep.  22d,  1776, 
was  betrayed  by  his  cousin  Samuel  late  of  Portsmouth. 

"  As  the  Herald  mentions  that  the  account  was  published 
at  this  time  with  a  view  of  eliciting  some  information  rela- 
tive to  the  subject,  the  following  facts,  which  may  be  relied 
upon,  are  stated. 

"  Capt.  N.  Hale  was  a  son  of  Hon.  Richard  Hale  of  Cov- 
entry in  Connecticut;  he  was  educated  at  Yale  College, 


THE  CHARGE  OF  BETRAYAL.   259 

where  he  graduated  in  1773.  The  Hon.  Samuel  Hale,  who 
so  long  kept  a  school  in  Portsmouth,  was  brother  to  Richard, 
and  of.  course  uncle  to  Capt.  N.  Hale,  and  also  to  Samuel. 
The  latter  was  son  of  Mr.  John  Hale  of  Cape  Ann ;  previous 
to  the  Revolution  he  was  a  lawyer  in  Portsmouth ;  but,  be- 
coming attached  to  the  British  cause,  he  left  his  country,  and 
joined  the  enemy. 

"The  Hon.  Samuel  Hale  of  Portsmouth  was  a  decided 
friend  to  the  Revolution,  and  was  deeply  affected  at  the 
death  of  his  nephew,  Capt.  N.  Hale,  and  though  advanced 
in  life,  was  extremely  excited  by  the  publication  alluded  to 
in  the  Essex  Journal.  He  immediately  wrote  to  his  brother, 
father  of  Capt.  Hale,  to  know  the  relative  facts ;  who  in  re- 
ply stated,  that  Samuel  his  nephew  (the  person  alluded  to 
as  the  betrayer  of  his  son)  had  not  even  been  at  Ms  house. 

"There  are  persons  now  living  who  know  that  this 
wicked  accusation  was  strictly  investigated  at  the  time  by 
Hon.  Samuel  Hale,  and  was  found  to  be  a  malicious  fabrica- 
tion, without  the  least  shadow  of  foundation." 

In  continuation  of  the  refutation  here  given,  the  story  of 
Nathan  Hale  as  told  by  Hannah  Adams  in  her  History  of 
New  England,  was  quoted — and  it  was  justly  urged — she 
having  had  access  to  the  best  sources  of  information,  and 
particularly  to  Gen.  Hull  himself,  the  intimate  friend  of  the 
Martyr  Spy — that  "so  gloomy  a  circumstance  as  Capt. 


260  APPENDIX. 

Hale's  being  betrayed  by  his  cousin,  would  not  have  failed 
to  have  been  noticed  "  by  her  pen. 

It  is  to  be  added  here,  that  Hull  himself,  in  his  own  pub- 
lished account  of  Hale,  makes  no  mention  whatever  of  such 
a  circumstance.  On  the  other  hand  he  says  expressly,  that 
the  British  officer,  who,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  informed 
Alexander  Hamilton,  then  a  captain  of  artillery,  of  Hale's 
execution,  told  him,  Hull,  that  the  papers  found  upon  Hale 
— "  the  sketches  of  the  British  fortifications,  and  memoranda 
of  their  numbers  and  different  positions" — were  Hale's 
betrayers.  u  When  apprehended,"  said  this  officer  to  Hull, 
"he  was  taken  before  Gen.  Howe,  and  the  papers,  found 
concealed  about  his  person,  betrayed  his  in  ten  tiom  !  "  Not 
a  word  from  this  flag  officer,  who  was  perfectly  familiar,  as 
Hull  informs  us,  with  "the  melancholy  particulars"  of 
Hale's  fate,  and  "  touched  by  the  circumstances  attending 
it,"  not  one  word,  be  it  remarked,  about  his  being  betrayed 
by  his  cousin !  Could  so  striking  a  circumstance,  had  it 
occurred,  have  escaped  his  notice,  and  report?  Certainly 
not.  The  just  and  strong  inference,  therefore,  from  his 
entire  silence  about  it,  is  that  it  did  not  occur. 

In  confirmation  of  the  article  from  the  Portsmouth  Journal, 
we  add  here  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Hale,  a  son  of  Nathan's  uncle,  Samuel  Hale  of  Ports- 
mouth, and  a  gentleman  who  for  six  years  represented 
New  Hampshire  in  Congress,  and  was  frequently  a  member 


THE    CHARGE    OF    BETRAYAL.      261 

of  the  State  Legislature.  His  letter,  bearing  date  Dover, 
N.  H.,  Sep.  21st,  1836,  was  addressed  to  Cyrus  Bradley 
Esquire,  at  Hanover,  N.  H.,  at  a  time  when  the  latter  was 
interesting  himself  in  collecting  materials  for  a  life  of  Capt. 
Hale,  and  the  extract  is  as  follows : 

"When  Capt.  Nathan  Hale  visited  my  father  at  Ports- 
mouth, more  than  sixty  years  since,  I  was  too  young  to 
retain  any  knowledge  of  his  person  or  conversation.  I  was 
the  youngest  son,  and  neither  of  my  three  elder  brothers 
were  in  Portsmouth  when  Capt.  Hale  made  his  visit.  Two 
of  them  have  since  died.  I  had  three  sisters,  who  have  all 
deceased.  Two  of  my  sisters  were  grown  up  when  he  made 
his  visit,  and  I  have  heard  them,  and  my  father,  frequently 
speak  of  Capt.  Bale's  interesting  appearance  and  accomplish- 
ments ;  and  I  perfectly  recollect  the  anguish  experienced  by 
my  father,  and  sisters,  when  the  account  of  his  death  was 

received.     And  I  well  recollect  the  great  excitement  of  my 

• 

father  when  he  saw  in  a  Newburyport  newspaper  an 
account  alledging  that  Capt.  Hale  was  betrayed  at  New 
York  by  his  cousin,  and  his  determination  to  fully  investi- 
gate the  subject.  He  wrote  to  his  brother,  Capt.  Bale's 
father,  at  Coventry,  and  received  a  letter  in  reply,  which, 
with  the  result  of  other  inquiries,  fully  satisfied  him  that 
the  account  of  Capt.  Bale's  being  betrayed  by  his  cousin 
was  wholly  without  foundation.  This  letter  I  have  seen, 


262  APPENDIX. 

and  regret  that  it  is  not  now  to  be  found.  My  youngest 
sister  lived  upon  the  spot  my  father  occupied  in  Portsmouth, 
and  at  the  great  fire  in  Portsmouth,  her  house  was  burnt, 
with  my  father's  account  books  and  most  of  his  papers." 

In  still  farther  refutation  of  the  charge  in  question,  we 
have  the  positive  and  indignant  denial  of  the  party  accused. 
But  ere  we  introduce  this,  let  the  Reader  get  some  idea  of  the 
man  himself. 

He  had  been  tenderly  reared,  as  we  have  already  sug- 
gested, by  his  uncle  at  Portsmouth — there  had  been  edu- 
cated— there  had  been  started  upon  a  promising  career  as  a 
barrister,  and  there  had  married.  He  was  a  man  of  decided 
intelligence,  of  enlarged  information,  and  of  an  affectionate 
and  honest  heart.  These  characteristics  are  all  plainly 
manifest  from  his  correspondence — a  portion  of  which  has 
been  politely  placed  in  our  hands  through  the  courtesy  of 
Mrs.  Judge  Elisabeth  Hale  Smith,  of  Lee,  New  Hampshire. 

When  the  war  broke  out,  like  many  others  in  the  land, 
he  remained,  from  habit,  and  upon  conviction,  a  loyalist — 
a  decided  one — without  concealment  or  prevarication — and 
he  openly  joined  General  Howe.  "My  affections  as  well  as 
my  allegiance,"  he  wrote  to  his  uncle  at  Portsmouth,  "  are 
due  to  another  nation.  I  love  the  British  government  with 
filial  fondness.  I  have  never  been  actuated  by  any  political 
rancor  towards  the  Americans.  My  conduct  has  always 


THE     CHARGE    OF    BETRAYAL.     263 

been  fair,  explicit,  and  open,  and  I  may  add,  some  of  your 
people  have  found  it  humane  at  a  time  when  affairs  on  our 
side  wore  the  most  nattering  appearances.  My  veneration 
is  as  high,  my  friendship  as  warm,  and  my  attachment  as 
great  as  ever  it  was  for  many  characters  among  you,  tho'  I 
have  differed  much  from  them  in  politics.  In  the  justness 
of  the  reasoning  which  led  to  the  principles  that  have  guided 
me  thro'  life,  I  can  suppose  myself  mistaken.  The  same 
thing  may  have  been  the  case  with  my  opponents.  Our 
powers  are  so  limited,  our  means  of  information  so  inade- 
quate to  the  end,  that  common  decency  requires  we  should 
forgive  each  other  when  we  have  every  reason  to  think  each 
has  acted  honestly.  Sure  I  am  this  is  the  case  with  me, 
and  I  hope  it  is  the  same  with  some  of  you.  My  conduct 
during  this  unhappy  contest  has  been  invariably  uniform. 
I  can  in  no  sense  be  called  a  traitor  to  your  State.  I  never 
owed  it  any  allegiance,  because  I  left  it  before  it  had 
assumed  the  form  or  even  the  name  of  an  Independent 
State,  and  when  I  neither  saw  or  felt  any  oppression.  I 
must  have  been  mad  as  well  as  wicked  to  have  acted  any 
other  part  than  I  did  upon  the  principles  I  held.  If  I  have 
been  mistaken,  I  am  sorry  for  the  error,  and  if  it  be  error, 
I  still  continue  in  it." 

These  sentences  show  the  loyalist  under  review  to  have 
been  honest  and  sincere  in  his  political  faith.  The  language 
of  his  letters  in  other  respects  shows  him  to  have  been 


264  APPENDIX. 

equally  honest  and  sincere  in  his  social  and  private  attach- 
ments, especially  to  his  own  family  and  kindred — for  whose 
happiness  and  prosperity  he  seems  ever  to  have  been  solicit- 
ous and  active.  Indeed,  in  this  view,  there  is  a  loving 
tenderness  at  times  in  the  tone  of  his  letters,  which  utterly 
forbids  the  idea  of  the  treachery  charged  upon  him. 

The  kindness  of  his  uncle,  particularly,  he  never  forgot. 
"  I  owe  everything  to  you,"  he  wrote  him  from  London, 
after  he  had  left  this  country,  as  he  did  towards  the  close  of 
the  war — "  because  to  you  I  owe  my  education,  and  if  I 
have  any  character  myself,  it  was  formed  under  you." — "  I 
took  real  pleasure,"  he  adds,  "in  seeing  your  son  John's 
name  in  the  last  year's  Catalogue  of  Harvard  University. 
I  tho't  the  rogue  had  the  seeds  of  genius  and  learning  in 
him,  and  I  knew  that  under  your  tuition  he  must  make 
something." 

The  loss  of  his  parents — first  heard  of  by  him  after  he 
had  gone  abroad — affected  him  most  profoundly — and  he 
leaned,  in  his  bereavement,  with  yearning  sensibility,  upon 
the  hearts  of  his  relatives  at  Portsmouth.  "  I  did  not 
expect "  he  wrote  his  uncle  not  long  after  this  event,  "  but  I 
might  at  last  have  seen  once  more  one  of  the  authors  of  my 
being — but  Providence  has  ordered  otherwise,  and  it  is  our 
duty  to  submit.  Alas,  my  poor  mother — but  I  must  for- 
bear that  subject,  or  even  at  this  period  my  weakness  would 
unman  me.  How  does  my  good  aunt  and  the  children? 


THE    CHARGE    OF    BETRAYAL.      265 

Make  my  best  regards  to  them  all,  particularly  to  my  aunt. 
Alas,  she  is  now  the  only  mother  I  have  left !  "  His  sister 
Mrs.  Jane  Denison  dying,  a  widow,  at  Beverly,  Massachu- 
setts, expressed  the  wish  that  her  brother  Samuel  should 
adopt  her  little  daughter.  "  If  my  circumstances  will  per- 
mit," was  his  speedy  response,  "  the  poor  little  girl  shall  not 
want  for  a  father  in  me."  His  sister  Hannah,  upon  the 
death  of  her  parents,  was  suffering,  he  feared,  from  pecu- 
niary embarassment,  and  from  melancholy.  "Poor  Han- 
nah," he  communicated  to  his  uncle  then — "  I  am  appre- 
hensive she  will  be  in  want.  If  that  should  be  the  case, 
write  to  either  of  my  brothers,  and  beg  them,  for  my  sake, 
to  extend  more  than  a  brother's  care  to  her.  If  Providence 
does  smile,  as  I  wish  it  may,  and  have  reasons  to  expect, 
they  shall  be  amply  repaid  if  their  circumstances  shall 
require  it.  I  will  write  her  myself  the  first  opportunity." 
To  his  wife  and  child,  whom  he  had  left  behind  at  Ports- 
mouth, he  sent  constant  tokens  of  his  affection — and  labored 
most  earnestly,  just  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  before 
the  Definitive  Treaty  of  Peace  was  signed,  to  procure  the 
repeal  of  a  law  of  New  Hampshire  disallowing  refugees  from 
returning  to  that  State — in  order  that  he  might  go  back 
there  again  himself,  and  enjoy  the  sweets  of  domestic  life 
with  his  wife  and  boy. 

It  was  to  this  wife,  Lydia  Parker  Hale,  that,  September 

10th,  1777— just  when  the  charge  against  him  of  betraying 
23 


266  APPENDIX. 

his  cousin  was  rife — he  wrote,  stamping  it,  most  explicitly, 
as  a  l falsehood.'  His  words,  loyalist  though  he  was — in  view 
of  his  character  as  we  have  briefly  portrayed  it  here — con- 
sidering his  well  known  sincerity,  veracity,  and  family  affec- 
tion— are  entitled  to  the  fullest  credit.  We  give  the 
letter  entire — for  it  helps  to  illustrate  the  man.  It  is  as 
follows : 

"  MY  DEAR  GIRL. — This  you  will  get  by  Mr.  Hart's  flag  of 
Truce,  who  is  coming  to  Boston  for  his  family.  I  know  the 
disposition  of  the  Leaders  at  Boston  so  well,  that  I  doubt 
not  of  his  success.  I  would  have  come  for  you  and  the  boy, 
but  I  thought  you  would  leave  your  father  with  reluctance, 
nor  am  I  sure  that  I  could  have  obtained  leave  for  you  to 
come  away,  if  you  were  disposed.  I  fear  the  resentment  of 
the  people  against  me  may  have  injured  you,  but  I  hope 
not  I  am  sorry  such  a  prejudice  has  arisen. 

"  Depend  upon  it  there  never  was  the  least  truth  in  that 
infamous  newspaper  publication  charging  me  with  ingrati- 
tude, &c.  I  am  happy  that  they  have  had  recourse  to  false- 
hood to  vilify  my  character.  Attachment  to  the  old  Consti- 
tution of  my  country  is  my  only  crime  with  them— for  which 
I  have  still  the  disposition  of  a  primitive  martyr. 

"  I  hope  &  believe  you  want  no  pecuniary  assistance.  If 
you  should,  you  may  apply  to  some  of  my  friends  or  your 
relations.  You  may  then  use  my  name  with  confidence 


THE  CHARGE  OF  BETRAYAL.  267 

that  they  shall  be  amply  satisfied.  I  believe  I  shall  have 
the  power,  I  am  sure  I  have  the  will,  to  recompense  them 
again.  I  somewhat  expect  to  see  you  in  a  few  months — 
perhaps  not  before  I  have  seen  England.  In  the  meanwhile, 
my  dear  Girl,  take  cart,  of  your  own,  and  the  Boy's  health. 
He  may  live  to  be  serviceable  to  his  country  in  some  distant 
period.  Respect,  Love,  Duty,  &c.,  await  all  my  inquiring 
and  real  friends.  I  am,  &c., 

"S.  HALE." 
"To  Mrs.  Hale. 

It  deserves  to  be  added  here,  ere  this  article  is  closed,  that 
at  the  time  of  the  rumor  under  consideration,  a  story  pre- 
cisely opposite  in  its  character  also  prevailed,  viz.,  that 
Samuel  Hale  discovered,  but  strove  earnestly  to  save  Jiis 
cousin  Nathan  !  If  he  discovered  him  at  all,  his  own  nature, 
and  the  ties  of  relationship,  we  are  fully  justified  in  believ- 
ing, would  have  undoubtedly  prompted  him  to  a  course 
thus  humane  and  affectionate. 


J. 

Page  155. 
% 

HON.  H.  J.  RAYMOND'S  REMARKS  ON  HALE. 

IN  admirable  consonance  with  our  own  views,  and  in  most 
eloquent  tribute  also  to  the  memory  of  Hale,  Hon.  H.  J. 
RAYMOND  of  New  York — in  his  Address,  October  seventh, 
1853,  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Monument  erected  at  Tarry- 
town  to  commemorate  the  spot  where  Major  Andre  was 
captured — says : 

"At  an  earlier  stage  of  the  Revolution,  NATHAN  HALE, 
Captain  in  the  American  army,  which  he  had  entered, 
abandoning  brilliant  prospects  of  professional  distinction, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  defending  the  liberties  of  his  coun- 
try,— gifted,  educated,  ambitious, — the  equal  of  ANDRE  in 
talent,  in  worth,  in  amiable  manners,  and  in  every  manly 
quality,  and  his  superior  in  that  final  test  of  character, — 
the  motives  by  which  his  acts  were  prompted,  and  his  life 
was  guided, — laid  aside  every  consideration  personal  to  him- 
self, and  entered  upon  a  service  of  infinite  hazard  to  life  and 
honor,  because  WASHINGTON  deemed  it  important  to  the 


APPENDIX.  269 

sacred  cause  to  which  both  had  been  sacredly  set  apart. 
Like  ANDRE  he  was  found  in  the  hostile  camp ;  like  him, 
though  without  a  trial,  he  was  adjudged  a  spy ;  and  like 
him  he  was  condemned  to  death.  And  here  the  likeness 
ends.  No  consoling  word,  no  pitying  or  respectful  look, 
cheered  the  dark  hour  of  his  doom.  He  was  met  with 
insult  at  every  turn.  The  sacred  consolations  of  the  minis- 
ter of  God  were  denied  him ;  his  Bible  was  taken  from  him ; 
with  an  excess  of  barbarity  hard  to  be  paralleled  in  civilized 
war,  his  dying  letters  of  farewell  to  his  mother  and  sister 
were  destroyed  in  his  presence ;  and  uncheered  by  sympathy, 
mocked  by  brutal  power,  and  attended  only  by  that  sense 
of  duty,  incorruptible,  undefiled,  which  had  ruled  his  life, — 
finding  its  fit  farewell  in  the  serene  and  sublime  regret  that 
he  "  had  but  one  life  to  lose  for  his  country," — he  went  forth 
to  meet  the  great  darkness  of  an  ignominious  death.  The 
loving  hearts  of  his  early  companions  have  erected  a 
neat  monument  to  his  memory  in  his  native  town;  but 
beyond  that  little  circle  where  stands  his  name  recorded  ? 
While  the  Majesty  of  England,  in  the  person  of  her  Sove- 
reign, sent  an  embassy  across  the  sea  to  solicit  the  remains 
of  ANDRE  at  the  hands  of  his  foes,  that  they  might  be 
enshrined  in  that  sepulchre  where  she  garners  the  relics  of 
her  mighty  and  renowned  sons — "  splendid  in  their  ashes 
and  pompous  in  the  grave  " — the  children  of  WASHINGTON 

have  left  the  body  of  HALE  to  sleep  in  its  unknown  tomb, 
23* 


270  RAYMOND    ON    HALE. 

though  it  be  on  his  own  native  soil,  unhonored  by  any  out- 
ward observance,  unmarked  by  memorial  stone.  Monody, 
eulogy, — monuments  of  marble  and  of  brass,  and  of  letters 
more  enduring  than  all, — have,  in  his  own  land  and  in  ours, 
given  the  name  and  the  fate  of  ANDRE  to  the  sorrowing 
remembrance  of  all  time  to  come.  American  genius  has 
celebrated  his  praises,  has  sung  of  his  virtues  and  exalted 
to  heroic  heights  his  prayer,  manly  but  personal  to  himself, 
for  choice  in  the  manner  of  death, — and  his  dying  challenge 
to  all  men  to  witness  the  courage  with  which  he  met  his 
fate.  But  where,  save  on  the  cold  page  of  history,  stands 
the  record  for  HALE?  Where  is  the  hymn  that  speaks  to 
immortality,  and  tells  of  the  added  brightness  and  enhanced 
glory,  when  his  equal  soul  joined  its  noble  host?  And 
where  sleeps  the  Americanism  of  Americans,  that  their 
hearts  are  not  stirred  to  solemn  rapture  at  thought  of  the 
sublime  love  of  country  which  buoyed  him  not  alone  '  above 
the  fear  of  death,'  but  far  beyond  all  thought  of  himself,  of 
his  fate  and  his  fame,  or  of  anything  less  than  his  country, — 
and  which  shaped  his  dying  breath  into  the  sacred  sentence 
which  trembled  at  the  last  upon  his  unquivering  lip  ?* 

It  would  not,  perhaps,  befit  the  proprieties  of  this  occasion 
were  I  to  push  the  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  so  great  a  dif- 
ference in  the  treatment  which  ANDRE  received  at  the  hands 

*  •'  Like  the  soaring  eagle,"  said  General  Hull  of  Hale,  '•  the  patriotic  ardor 
of  his  soul  '  winged  the  dart'  which  caused  his  destruction." 


APPENDIX.  271 

of  his  American  captors,  whose  destruction  he  had  come, 
not  to  conquer,  but  to  betray,— and  that  which  the  British 
bestowed  upoii  NATHAN  HALE.  Much  of  it  was,  doubtless, 
due  to  the  difference  in  the  composition  of  the  opposing 
armies, — the  one  of  hirelings  in  the  service  of  power,  seek- 
ing the  conquest  of  freemen, — the  other  of  freemen  defend- 
ing their  liberties,  and  keenly  alive  to  the  sensibilities  and 
affections — the  love  of  home,  of  brethren,  of  fellow-men — 
which  alone  sustained  them  in  the  unequal  strife.  I  have 
introduced  it  now,  not  for  the  sake  of  complaint,  nor  even 
for  the  worthier  purpose  of  challenging  as  unpatriotic  and 
un-American,  the  habit  of  allowing  all  our  sympathy  and  all 
our  tears  to  be  engrossed  by  an  accomplished  and  unhappy 
foe,  who  failed  in  a  service  of  doubtful  morality,  undertaken 
for  the  sake  of  promotion  and  of  personal  glory,  in  oblivion 
of  what  is  due  to  one  of  a  nobler  stamp, — our  own  country- 
man, who  knew  no  object  of  love  bnt  his  and  our  country, 
who  judged  "  every  kind  of  service  honorable,  which  was 
necessary  to  the  public  good,"  and  who  by  genius,  by  char- 
acter, by  patriotic  devotion  and  by  misfortune,  has  para- 
mount claims  upon  the  love  and  cherishing  remembrance 
of  American  hearts." 


Notice0  of  tlje  toork. 


THE  Publisher  of  this  volume  takes  occasion  to  present 
here  the  following  testimonials  to  its  merits,  from  the  Press, 
and  from  the  pens  of  distinguished  gentlemen  : 

FROM  THE  HARTFORD  COURANT. 

"  This  interesting  work  has  proved  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful and  popular  biographies  ever  published  in  this  coun- 
try. It  is  a  glorious  good  book,  written  by  one  of  the  ablest 
pens  in  the  State — clearly,  simply,  forcibly  written.  The 
story  of  Hale  is  almost  new,  absolutely  new  to  nine  out  of 
ten  who  read  it.  It  is  the  most  thrilling  authentic  romance 
of  the  Revolution.  *  *  Hale  died  with  more  than  Roman 
firmness  and  heroism.  He  died  with  more  sublimity,  and 
under  circumstances  as  tear-moving  as  Andre.  We  are  glad 
that  his  life  has  fallen  into  hands  well  skilled  to  reanimate  it. 
The  work  is  a  model,  and  can  be  securely  used  as  a  study 
by  all  those  who  are  attempting  historic  portraiture." 

FROM    THE    HARTFORD    TIMES. 

"  Indeed  this  little  volume  is  praised  by  everybody.  It  is 
beautifully  written,  presenting  historic  incidents  in  which  the 
whole  American  people  feel  a  lively  interest,  in  a  manner 
that  is  universally  admired.  The  people  of  Connecticut 
especially,  will  ever  feel  grateful  to  Mr.  Stuart  for  this  act 
of  justice  to  her  valiant  son,  the  Martyr-Spy." 
1 


FROM  HON.  GKORGE  BANCROFT,  THE  HISTORIAN,  TO 
THE  AUTHOR. 

"  You  have  done  an  excellent  and  deserved  service  to  the 
memory  of  an  upright,  disinterested  patriot,  who  seems  to 
have  been  guided  by  a  sense  of  duty,  and  not  by  a  desire  for 
emolument  or  even  for  fame,  but  who,  superior  to  all  weak- 
ness, lived  as  in  the  eye  of  the  great  Taskmaster.  On  me 
you  have  an  additional  claim  for  gratitude,  for  the  careful 
and  attractive  manner  in  which  you  have  embodied  all  the 
information  that  was  accessible  on  the  subject,  leaving  noth 
ing  to  be  hunted  up  by  the  historic  inquirer." 

FROM  JARED  SPARKS,  LL.  D.,  TO  THE  SAME. 

"  I  perused  the  volume  with  great  satisfaction.  It  is  a  just 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  a  man,  whose  name  will  ever  stand 
high  on  the  list  of  those  who  have  sacrificed  their  lives  in  the 
service  of  their  country.  You  have  been  alike  successful  in 
collecting  facts,  and  presenting  them  in  an  attractive  form. 
The  Diary  has  a  peculiar  interest  as  exhibiting  the  interior 
condition  of  the  army  at  that  time  ;  and  the  entire  narrative- 
is  a  valuable  contribution  to  our  historical  annals." 

FROM  HON.   WILLIAM  H.  PRESCOTT,    THE  HISTORIAN, 
TO  THE  SAME. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  interesting  and  touch- 
ing memoir  of  Captain  Nathan  Hale.  Few  of  our  historians 
have  made  the  mention  of  him  to  which  he  is  entitled  by  his 
personal  merits  and  his  unhappy  fate.  His  name  is  as  de- 
serving of  commemoration  as  that  of  Andre,  who  has  been 
justly  an  object  of  so  much  sympathy  with  his  countrymen. 
I  think  every  American  reader  must  feel  grateful  to  you  for 
the  hearty  tribute  you  have  paid  to  the  character  of  our 
unfortunate  countryman." 


FROM  HON.  ROBERT  C.  AVINTHROP,  TO  THE  SAME. 

"  I  have  read  your  life  of  Nathan  Hale,  the  Martyr-Spy, 
with  great  interest.  I  am  exceedingly  glad  that  such  a  trib- 
ute has  at  length  been  paid  to  his  memory.  The  Diary  of 
poor  Hale,  and  the  account  of  his  family,  in  the  Appendix, 
render  the  work  valuable  as  a  permanent  historical  record." 

FROM  BENJAMIN  SILLIMAN,  SENIOR,  LL.  D.,    TO  THE 
SAME. 

''  I  have  read  your  Life  of  Nathan  Hale  through,  and 
with  deep  interest.  You  have  discharged  an  important  duty 
to  the  memory  of  that  eminently  gallant,  patriotic,  and  noble 
youth,  and  the  record  will  not,  I  trust,  be  lost  upon  the 
youth  of  this  generation,  and  of  those  that  are  to  follow  in  all 
future  time." 

FROM  HON.  EDWARD   EVERETT,  TO  THE  SAME. 

"  I  am  gratified  to  hear  that  your  life  of  Capt.  Nathan 
Hale  is  passing  to  a  second  edition.  His  character  is  of  a 
sterling  cast,  and  his  unhappy  fate  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing events  of  the  American  Revolution.  You  have  explored 
the  subject  with  diligence,  and  arranged  and  described  the 
facts,  many  of  which  are  now  for  the  first  time  narrated, 
with  so  much  judgment,  feeling,  and  spirit,  as  to  make  a 
work  of  permanent  value." 

FIIOM  HON.  NATHAN  HALE,    OF  BOSTON,   TO  THE 
SAME. 

'•  Accept  my  thanks  for  the  service  which  you  have  ren- 
dered in  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  memory  of  my  uncle, 
Capt.  Nathan  Hale,  whose  chivalrous  self-devotion  brought 
him  to  a  premature  death,  with  my  conviction  that  you 


have  executed  a  very  difficult  task,  in  a  manner  highly  cred- 
itable to  yourself,  and  satisfactory  to  the  members  of  the 
family  most  deeply  interested  in  the  subject  of  the  memoir. 
I  feel  under  great  obligations  to  you  for  having  undertaken 
the  work  under  circumstances  so  discouraging  as  regards  the 
acquisition  of  materials,  and  tor  having  executed  it  in  a  man- 
ner that  gives  a  deep  interest,  as  well  as  a  historical  value 
to  the  narrative." 

FROM  HON.  G.  H.  HOLLISTER,  THE  HISTORIAN  OF 
CONNECTICUT,    TO  THE  SAME. 

"  It  is  a  most  interesting  narrative.  You  have  gathered 
all  the  materials  that  can  throw  any  light  upon  the  subject, 
and  have  arranged  them  with  the  hand  of  an  artist.  By 
doing  so,  you  have  placed  thousands  of  your  fellow-country- 
men under  lasting  obligations  to  you.  Allow  me  to  congrat- 
ulate you  upon  the  success  that  must  follow  this  noble  work, 
which  will  live  long  after  you  are  dead,  and  after  the  gran- 
ite blocks  of  the  Hale  Monument  shall  have  toppled  down." 

FROM  HENRY  ONDERDONK,  JR.,  ESQ.,  AUTHOR  OF 
"REVOLUTIONARY  INCIDENTS  OF  LONG  ISLAND," 
TO  THE  SAME. 

"  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  waste  words  in  praise  of  your 
book ;  for  it  seems  to  me  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  the 
manner  of  treating  the  more  uncertain  topics  eminently  mod- 
est and  in  good  taste.  It  is  the  best  monument  yet  reared 
to  Hale's  memory.  It  contains  many,  very  many  precious 
facts  that  have  not  hitherto  been  presented  to  the  public  by 
any  author.  Henceforth  Hale's  fate  must  find  a  place  in 
everv  historv  of  the  Revolution." 


FROM  THE  NEW  HAVEN  PALLADIUM. 

"  This  work  is  a  faithful,  earnest,  and  eloquent  tribute  to 
a  man  of  noble  daring,  and  of  such  other  qualities  as  to  make 
him  entitled  to  universal  admiration.  Mr.  Stuart,  in  his 
graphic  and  finished  style  of  writing,  gives  more  of  the  early 
history  of  Hale  than  we  had  supposed  existed,  and  it  is  all 
interesting  from  his  birth  to  the  college,  and  from  the  col- 
lege to  the  army,  and  alas !  from  thence  to  the  fatal  tree." 

FROM  THE  BRIDGEPORT  STANDARD. 

"  This  work,  by  the  Hon.  I.  W.  Stuart,  of  Hartford,  is  a 
noble  tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  whose  name  should  be 
warmly  cherished  by  every  son  of  Connecticut.  The  effort, 
on  the  part  of  the  author,  has  evidently  been  a  labor  of  love. 
The  memoir,  valuable  as  a  contribution  to  our  historical  lit- 
erature, should  everywhere  be  commended  to  the  youth  of 
our  country — to  all  who  would  hold  in  lasting  remembrance 
the  virtue,  the  calm  moral  courage  of  the  Hero  Spy — the 
self-sacrifice  of  the  martyred  Patriot." 

FROM    THE    LITCHFIELD    ENQUIRER. 

"  There  is  a  loving  tenderness  in  the  whole  story  which 
must  interest  all  readers  alike.  One  may  read  it  again  and 
again  with  new  emotions  and  sympathetic  tears.  The  spirit 
in  which  the  work  is  conceived  is  elevated  and  pure  as  its 
style.  It  ought  to  be  put  in  the  hands  of  every  child  in  the 
State,  for  the  lessons  of  industry,  patriotism,  courage,  man- 
liness, truth,  and  piety  which  it  breathes." 

FROM  THE  NEW  LONDON  CHRONICLE. 
>•  The  memory  of  Hale  does  indeed  deserve  this  tribute, 
and  it  may  be  considered  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  the 

1* 


6 

bestowment  of  it  has  fallen  into  such  hands,  those  of  one  who 
has  entered  upon  the  duty  with  such  distinguished  qualifica- 
tions for  discharging  it  skillfully  and  well — who  has  written 
every  word  con  amore,  and  with  intense  reverence  for  his 
subject." 

FROM    THE    NEW  LONDON    STAR. 

"  It  is  only  in  centuries  that  men  yield  up  their  lives  on 
the  scaffold,  with  the  regret,  that  they  have  but  one  to  offer 
for  their  country,  and  the  historian  can  not  too  widely  hold 
out  the  patriotic  language  that  escapes.  Mr.  Stuart  gives  a 
complete  and  accurate  history  of  Nathan  Hale,  from  his  birth 
to  his  death,  and  we  trust  it  will  reach  every  family  in  Con- 
necticut." 

FROM    THE    NORWICH    COURIER. 

u  Mr.  Stuart's  task  was  worthy  of  his  well-known  abilities, 
and  he  has  executed  it  with  a  patient  assiduity,  and  an  inge- 
nuity of  research  deserving  of  all  praise." 

FROM  THE  RELIGIOUS  HERALD,  CONN. 

"  The  good  people  of  Connecticut  are  largely  indebted  to 
Hon.  Mr.  Stuart  for  this  volume,  in  which  he  has  garnered 
up  facts  with  diligent  research,  arranged  them  with  consum- 
mate skill,  and  clothed  them  in  a  style  graceful  and  free." 

FROM    THE    HOMESTEAD,    CONN. 

"  No  one  can  read  this  book  without  feeling  that  he  has 
gained  a  new  name  to  chronicle  among  the  great  and  good 
that  his '  soul  delighteth  to  honor.'  " 

FROM    THE    CALENDAR,    CONN. 

"  Though  the  materials  for  the  biography  have  been 
deemed  few  and  scanty,  the  industry  and  perseverance  of 


the  author  has  increased  them  vastly,  and  he  seems  to  have 
employed  them  faithfully  and  judiciously.  It  only  remains 
to  say,  that  the  style  and  manner  of  the  work,  both  mechan- 
ically and  intellectually,  are  a  credit  both  to  author  and 
publisher." 

FROM    THE    BOSTON    DAILY   ADVERTISER. 

"  Every  detail  of  the  short  life  which  thus  ended,  is  nar- 
rated with  zealous  interest  in  Mr.  Stuart's  memoir  of  this 
young  officer.  And  we  are  able  to  speak  from  considerable 
examination  of  the  subject  he  has  in  hand,  when  we  say  that 
he  has  exhausted  every  source  of  information,  and  brought 
together  every  incident,  in  the  short  life  of  his  hero,  which 
can  now  be  related  with  confidence." 

"FROM    THE    BOSTON    TRAVELER. 

''  This  book  will  serve  to  correct,  in  part  at  least,  the 
strange  and  unaccountable  injustice  heretofore  done  toCapt. 
Hale,  and  will  render  his  virtues,  his  accomplishments,  and 
his  disinterested  bravery,  familiar  to  his  countrymen." 

FROM    THE    BOSTON   JOURNAL. 

"  We  welcome  this  little  volume  with  unusual  pleasure, 
tor  it  does  an  act  of  justice  to  the  memory  of  a  noble  patriot, 
which  had  been  too  long  neglected.  Of  such  a  man,  the 
biography  should  be  in  every  American's  possession." 

FROM    THE    WAVERLET    MAGAZINE,    BOSTON. 

"  This  interesting  work  is  a  valuable  addition  to  our  na- 
tional standard  biography.  It  is  finely  illustrated,  and  a 
genealogy  of  the  Hale  family  is  also  appended.  It  is  the 
most  interesting  biography  we  have  ever  read." 


FROM    THE    WORCESTER   ^EGIS,    MASS. 

"  The  style  in  which  Mr.  Stuart  has  performed  his  work 
can  not  be  too  highly  commended,  either  for  the  care  with 
which  he  has  elaborated  the  historical  matter,  or  the  beauty 
of  diction  with  which  he  has  adorned  each  page." 

PROM    THE    SPRINGFIELD    REPUBLICAN,    MASS. 

"  It  is  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  brave  martyr-spy  of  the  Rev- 
olution. The  patriotism,  the  manliness,  the  noble  devotion 
manifested  by  him,  have  placed  his  name  immortally  among 
the  worthies  of  the  Revolution,  and  very  faithfully  and  very 
affectionately  has  Mr.  Stuart  followed  him  through  the  task 
he  undertook,  its  trials  and  its  terrible  termination." 

FROM  THE  VERMONT  JOURNAL. 

"  This  little  volume  will  be  hailed  with  pleasure  by  every 
American  who  cherishes  the  memory  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Revolution.  The  life  and  death  of  HALE  are  depicted 
with  a  graphic  pen.  His  amiability  and  piety  seem  to  have 
been  as  remarkable  as  his  genius  and  heroism.  We  recom- 
mend the  book  to  all." 

FROM  THE  NEW  YORK  COURIER  AND  ENQUIRER. 

"  The  present  volume  is  a  fitting  memorial  of  Hale,  giving 
a  complete  and  graphic  account  of  his  career  and  character  ; 
and  it  should  be  read  by  every  one  who  cares  to  know  one 
of  the  most  gallant  spirits  of  the  Revolution." 

FROM    THE    NEW  YORK    EVENING    POST. 

"  The  woi'k  has  been  accomplished  in  an  earnest  spirit, 
and  will  prove  a  valuable  addition  to  the  Revolutionary  biog- 
raphy of  the  country." 


FROM    THE    INDEPENDENT,    NEW  YORK. 

"  The  -work  is  complete  in  its  collection  of  materials.  The 
materials  are  exquisitely  wrought  by  an  artist's  hand." 

FROM   THE    NEW   YORK   DAILY   TIMES. 

"  Of  this  man,  worthy  of  all  honor,  we  here  have  the  life 
and  death  clearly  narrated,  from  first  to  last,  and  a  sad  rec- 
ord it  is — albeit  most  honorable  to  BALE'S  memory.  The 
volume  contains  nine  well  executed  engravings,  illustrative 
of  HALE'S  life.  Mr.  Stuart  has  made  a  valuable  contribu- 
tion, in  this  book,  to  the  historical  biography  of  the  Kevo- 
lution." 

FROM  THE  NEW  YORK  OBSERVER. 

"  By  all  who  hold  the  name  of  Nathan  Hale  in  grateful 
recollection — and  who  does  not — this  little  volume,  faithfully 
and  laboriously  prepared,  and  neatly  published,  with  litho- 
graphic illustrations,  will  be  received  with  welcome,  and 
preserved  as  valuable." 

FROM  THE  EVENING  MIRROR,  NEW  YORK. 

"  If  any  life  is  worthy  of  record  in  letters  of  gold,  surely 
that  of  Nathan  Hale  deserves  to  be  engraven  on  the  heart 
of  every  true  American.  The  Hon.  I.  W.  Stuart  has,  in  a 
work  recently  published,  relieved  our  country  from  a  re- 
proach, and  eloquently  and  graphically  given  to  the  world 
an  authentic  narrative  of  his  career,  and  we  can  commend  it 
as  an  admirable  and  absorbing  sketch  of  one  deserving  im- 
mortality of  name." 

FROM    THE   NEW   YORK   JOURNAL    OF    COMMERCE. 
"  The  book  we  are  noticing  is  a  worthy  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  heroic  martyr." 


10 


FROM    THE    KNICKERBOCKER    MAGAZINE,   NEW  YORK. 

"  This  volume  supplies,  and  well  supplies,  a  very  impor- 
tant desideratum  in  American  Revolutionary  history.  From 
a  great  variety  of  authentic  sources,  there  is  now  gathered 
together  in  the  volume  before  us,  a  well-digested  history  «f 
the  '  Martyr-Spy  of  the  Revolution.' " 

FROM  THE  ALBANY  ARGUS,  NEW  YORK. 

"  The  author  of  this  work  has  at  length  given  us  the  result 
of  his  laborious  research  in  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  ex- 
citing volumes  that  we  have  seen  in  many  a  day.  He  traces 
Hale's  history  from  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  life 
with  great  simplicity  and  beauty,  and  brings  out  the  appal- 
ling details  with  which  the  scene  closes  so  vividly  and  im- 
pressively as  to  be  almost  an  overmatch  for  weak  nerves. 
We  can  not  but  regard  the  work  as  alike  creditable  to  the 
subject  and  the  author,  and  as  a  most  valuable  contribution 
to  our  Revolutionary  history." 

FROM  THE  ALBANY  EVENING  JOURNAL,  NEW  YORK. 

"  The  history  of  Nathan  Hale,  '  the  Martyr-Spy,'  is  one 
of  those  romantic  episodes  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  of 
which  the  American  public  are  never  weary." 

FROM    THE    TROY    DAILY    WHIG,   NEW    YORK. 

"  Mr.  Stuart  has  given  us  a  beautiful  and  reliable  memoir 
which  will  become  as  familiar  as  household  words  in  our 
homes,  and  thrown  such  deep  interest  around  the  narrative 
that  we  return  to  it  many  times  and  oft  with  increased  grat- 
ification." 


11 


FROM    TIIE    EVENING    CHRONICLE,    SYRACUSE,   NEW 
YORK. 

"  Well  assured  are  we,  that  if  the  glowing,  pathetic,  and 
truthful  recital  from  the  masterly  pen  of  Mr.  Stuart  be  read, 
there  will  never  fail  heart  throbs  of  pride,  and  never  cease 
to  flow  tears  of  sympathy,  to  keep  the  turf  green  upon  the 
memory  of  Nathan  Hale,  the  Martyr-Spy." 

FROM   THE    ST.    LOUIS    REPUBLICAN,   MISSOURI. 

"A  biography  long  needed  in  American  history,  and 
which  is  now  furnished  in  the  most  authentic  and  pleasing 
form.  Capt.  HALE  was  one  of  the  first  martyrs  of  the  revo- 
lutionary struggle.  For  the  first  time,  the  facts  connected 
with  his  services  and  sufferings  are  connected  in  a  continuous 
narrative.  The  resemblance  between  HALE  and  ANDRE, 
in  youth,  accomplishments,  bravery,  condemnation,  and  the 
sad  termination  of  life,  is  remarkable.  War  but  seldom  fur- 
nishes two  such  victims  to  its  relentless  demands.  The  work 
is  beautifully  printed  and  illustrated." 

FROM    THE    NATIONAL    INTELLIGENCER,    D.    C. 

"  This  work  has  its  origin  in  a  praiseworthy  attempt  on 
the  part  of  its  author,  to  throw  around  the  name  of  HALE 
that  pitying  tenderness  and  regret  which  have  embalmed 
alike  in  the  hearts  of  friends  and  foes  the  memory  of  the  un- 
fortunate Andre.  The  present  memoir  in  his  honor  has 
been  compiled  with  evident  carefulness,  and  with  a  genial 
appreciation  of  its  subject,  which  shows  its  preparation  to 
have  been  a  labor  of  love  on  the  part  of  its  author.  *  * 
We  commend  this  biography  to  all  who  desire  to  acquaint 
themselves  in  clearer  outlines  with  the  character  of  him  who 


12 

in  meeting  an  ignominious  death, '  regretted  only  that  he  had 
but  one  life  to  lose  for  his'country.' " 

FROM  THE  LOUISVILLE  JOURNAL,  KENTUCKY. 

"  The  story  of  Captain  Hale  is  perhaps  the  most  heroic 
and  thrilling  that  belongs  to  our  history,  and  we  can  pro- 
nounce no  higher  eulogy  upon  the  author  than  to  say  that  he 
has  fitly  enshrined  it  in  the  national  literature.  His  life  of 
Captain  Hale  is  beyond  question  among  the  most  finished 
and  enchanting  biographical  sketches  in  the  language.  It 
possesses  all  the  fascination  and  freshness  of  fiction  combined 
with  the  far  deeper  and  more  exquisite  charm  of  idealized 
fact.  It  is  living  and  breathingjtruth,  and  therefore  more 
bewitching  as  well  as  stranger  than  fiction.  After  perusing 
it,  none  can  wonder  that  this  single  performance  should  have 
placed  the  author  high  among  the  classic  writers  of  our  lan- 
guage. What  splendid  achievements  may  not  American 
literature  anticipate  hereafter  from  so  ripe,  and  elegant,  and 
triumphant  a  pen." 


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